… wife of school founder Dr. John Hilton Knowles and an Honorary Trustee, leaves a legacy of generosity and dedication The MGH Institute has lost one of the last … of Edith L. “Teedy” Dabney. Dabney, who was 93 when she died in February, had a front-row seat when her husband, Dr. John Hilton Knowles, conceived the idea of … in need of a permanent home. Befitting her constitution as a person who strived to get things done, she joined with Ann Caldwell, who had just come on board as the …