Stories

leading diagnostic center for colon cancer and other digestive-system disorders.  It will include five procedure rooms, pre- and post-procedure observation areas and consultation rooms, and will be equipped to safely deliver sedation during procedures.

Russell Knott was the former general partner of Knott’s Berry Farm and the only son of its founders, Walter and Cordelia Knott.  He was four years old when the family moved to Buena Park and leased 10 acres of land to farm, the humble beginning of what grew into a legendary family business empire.

The Knotts’ ties with St. Jude Medical Center began before the hospital was even built.  “I’ve had a long association with St. Jude; it’s our community Hospital,” Russell Knott recently stated.

Russell and Mildred Knott lived for many years in La Habra Heights, where they raised their sons.  As the population of North Orange County grew in the 1950s, the need for a local health care facility became increasingly obvious.  The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange responded to the challenge, opening St. Jude Hospital in 1957.  Russell served as treasurer of the Building Fund Committee, which raised $1.7 million to construct the largest medical facility in North Orange County.