When it comes to who Neil Armstrong is, almost everyone will be able to correctly assess the role of the first man to set foot on the moon. Yet other things about the legendary astronaut, including his wife, Carol Held Knight, remain unknown to many. Knight achieved fame as the astronaut’s second wife, with whom he spent the last ten years of his life.
Before Neil and Carol first met, the two were already married, and while his relationship ended in divorce, Knight’s ended with the death of her former husband. Here is a glimpse into the life of Neil Armstrong’s wife
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Carol Held Knight Biography
Carol Held Knight was born in the United States in 1945 as the daughter of her parents Victor Held and Rosario Cota. She is believed to have grown up in the United States, although there is no confirmation of this.
Furthermore, there is no information about her education, childhood or upbringing. What has brought her out of the very private life she has always maintained was her marriage to Neil Armstrong in 1994, after their first meeting in 1992.
Even after the marriage, Knight continued to work so hard to ensure that she would remain in the dark despite her husband’s fame.
Facts To Know About Carol Held Knight
1. How Carol Held Knight and Armstrong Met
The astronaut and hero were first married to Janet Shearon, a woman with whom he spent more than three decades. Janet Armstrong was born in Wilmette, Illinois, at the side of two sisters. She married Neil in 1956, with whom she lived in California. Through his long hours of work and travel, Janet is said to have kept the family together.
Unfortunately, their paths separated after 38 years of marriage in 1990, and in 1994 their marriage was finally ended by a divorce. One of the main reasons attributed to the failure of the marriage was allegedly Neil’s withholding of feelings towards his wife.
Two years after the separation from his wife and three years after the death of her husband, Neil and Carol first met in 1992 when they were sitting together at a golf tournament. Although little was said between the two of them at their first meeting, they met again two weeks later when Armstrong drove for 35 minutes to help her cut down a cherry tree.
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They eventually married in 1994 and stayed together until 2012, when Neil died after a complication from heart surgery. The astronaut was 15 years older than his wife. From the time they met, Armstrong spent the last ten years of his life with Carol.
Six years after Armstrong’s death, Janet Armstrong also died (2018), just before a film about the life of the American hero was released.
2. Her First Marriage
As mentioned earlier, Armstrong was not the first husband of Carol Knight. She was first married to a man named Ralph Knight who worked as a pilot. Although details of how the two met and when they were married are vague, it is known that they were involved in a tragedy when he was involved in a plane crash in 1989.
Knight survived the crash in what was described as a miracle, but unfortunately, there was an undetected blood clot that was to lead to his unfortunate death, although he had an 80 percent chance of survival. After Knight’s death, his organs were kept for donation.
3. Carol Held Knight’s Children
The union between Carol Held Knight and Neil did not produce a child, but both had children from their previous marriages. In turn, Knight’s first marriage was blessed with two children, a daughter and a son – Molly and Andy. While Molly was fifteen years old when Ralph Knight lost his life, Andy was fourteen years old.
Neil was also blessed with three children in his first marriage; Eric Armstrong, born in 1957, Karen Armstrong, born in 1959, and Mark Armstrong, born in 1963. In 1961, when she was only two years old, Karen was found with a tumor in her brain that contributed to her death in January 1962.
