Judith Knapp

Judith Chloe Rhinehart Browning Knapp passed away on February 27, 2014, in Nashville, TN, after a long illness. She was born on November 5, 1938, to Murray and Frances Rhinehart, both of Clarksville, TN. She grew up in Cumberland Heights. She was married at Madison Street United Methodist Church in 1953 to Sgt. Leroy Jack "Brownie" Browning, of Durham, NC, who was stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY. They met at a dance at Fort Campbell where her father, "Pop" Rhinehart, was entertaining with his orchestra. In the early years of her marriage, Judith volunteered for the Civil Defense and traveled with her husband and growing family, living in Munich and Augsburg, Germany, and Okinawa. In late 1962, she moved with her husband and two children, Jack and Candie, to Okinawa, while her husband served in Vietnam in an advisory role. Judith received a commendation for coordinating the August 1965 evacuation of all US military families stationed on Okinawa. After two tours of active duty, her husband, promoted to Command Sergeant Major of the 101st Airborne Division, was killed in action in Vietnam in June 1968. Judith remarried and the family moved to Nashville in 1972. She worked for several years as a dental assistant, and for the 27 years prior to her retirement she worked at Emma's Flowers & Gifts. In the mid-1990s, she transferred her lifelong membership at Madison Street United Methodist Church in Clarksville to Belle Meade United Methodist Church in Nashville. An accomplished home chef, talented seamstress, avid gardener, artist, birder, and movie-lover, Judith encouraged her children in their own creative endeavors as a musician and a writer respectively. She enjoyed entertaining at her home in Bellevue; her home was always open to her children's friends. She is predeceased in death by her parents; her husbands, CSM Leroy Jack Browning and Michael Knapp; her sister, June Rhinehart Wright; her brothers, Alva and Gregory Rhinehart; and her nephew, Andrew Elliott. She is survived by her children, Leroy Jack Browning, Jr. and his wife Belinda; and Candie Browning Moonshower Johnson and her husband Carl Johnson; her grandchildren, Rex David Moonshower, and his wife, Jennifer, of Fort Myers, FL; Jack Browning Johnson, and Chloe Olivia Johnson; and her great-grandchildren, Blake and Bryce Moonshower. She is also survived by her sisters, Mary Jayne Rhinehart Slate and Susan Rhinehart Elliott Parham; her niece, Donna Wright Kieni; her nephew, Stephen Elliott; and other beloved family members. A celebration of Judith's life will be held on Sunday, March 16, 2014, at 1:30 PM, in the sanctuary of Belle Meade United Methodist Church. She will be interred with her husband, CSM Browning, at Fort Donelson National Military Cemetery, at a later date in a private ceremony. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Warner Park Nature Center in her name for "Bird Research."