Mark W. Knight, production assistant, photographer, and investment administrator, has died at 63

Mark W. Knight, 63, of St. Davids, a versatile film and video production assistant who did camera and sound work on big sports events and music videos; a photographer who, from his wheelchair, created a unique perspective for his images; and longtime investment administrator at the Vanguard Group, died Saturday, June 25, of complications from pneumonia at Kindred Hospital in Havertown.

Mr. Knight worked for Wayne-based TelRa Productions as a young man, operating cameras and sound equipment at football and ice hockey games and car races. Creative and personable, he was the company’s liaison with NFL Films and made music videos on the side for locals bands in Philadelphia and New York, and promotional videos for the Brandywine Polo Club.

At 29, in 1987, he suffered serious spinal cord injuries in a bodysurfing accident at a California beach and became paralyzed from the upper chest down. So, while living with his mother, Roma, in St. Davids, he changed careers and became a customer service representative at Strawbridge & Clothier and then a certified investment administrator at Vanguard.

“He did what he had to do,” said his wife, Grace Ziesing. “He was a creative guy, and he exercised his creativity after his accident by going into retail and finance. He had a joy for life and a joy for people.”

Optimistic and energetic despite his limitations, Mr. Knight embraced his rehabilitation and joined a rowing program at the Upper Merion Boat Club and excelled in regattas in the 1990s. He eventually drove himself to work at Strawbridge & Clothier until it closed and then was hired at Vanguard in 2006.

He passed the challenging general securities representative exam and spent 17 years at Vanguard, advancing from the business development group to the high net worth asset management services department before retiring in 2014. “It was an honor to work for his company,” Mr. Knight wrote on Linkedin.com after Vanguard founder John C. Bogle died in 2019. “I miss being able to be there every day.”

Mr. Knight was an avid photographer and focused on his wheelchair-eye view of the world after his accident. He noticed the symmetry and expressionist beauty of random markings on pavement he rolled over and showed his photos at, among other places, Villanova University’s “Expressions and Impressions: Artists Living with Disabilities” exhibit in 2018.

A lifelong outdoorsman, he volunteered at the PennEnvironment research and policy center and wrote opinion pieces about the environment for local publications. He made friends easily, served in the peer mentorship program at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, and won a 1998 Success Award from the hireAbility Philadelphia employment program for his example of “motivation and initiative.”

Born Oct. 17, 1958, in Charlottesville, Va., Mr. Knight and his family moved to Philadelphia, where his parents had been raised, in 1960. He graduated from Haverford School and spent memorable summers hunting and fishing in Blooming Grove, Pa., 34 miles east of Scranton in the Pocono Mountains.

He studied theater and film at the University of Vermont and earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and media studies. He met Ziesing when they were teenagers in St. Davids, and she remembered him as “cool.”

They reconnected in 2002 when she returned from California and moved into the house next door. She found Mr. Knight “incredibly accepting” and “the most nonjudgmental man I have ever met,” and they married in 2006.

“He had an uncanny ability to connect with people, listen, and put people at ease,” his wife said. “A feat in a wheelchair.”

The couple’s June marriage was featured in The Inquirer’s Sunday edition of July 9, 2006, and Mr. Knight said he “thought she was fabulous” when he met Ziesing again. “I never thought I would get married,” he said. “If you’re a quad[riplegic], you can fall in love and get married.”

The couple spent summers wandering the woods in Blooming Grove and with Ziesing’s family in New Hampshire. They also traveled to Bermuda, Charlottesville, New York and elsewhere.

He collected old radios, loved his dogs, was a history buff, and served as chairman of the membership committee of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati and on the Haverford School alumni executive council.

“Mark loved everybody,” his wife said. “He had a special spirit.”

In addition to his wife and mother, Mr. Knight is survived by two brothers and other relatives.

A memorial service was held Saturday.

Donations in his name may be made to the American Chestnut Foundation, 50 North Merrimon Ave., Suite 115, Asheville, N.C. 28804.