Otis Kent

Terry Kent died of congestive heart failure on May 28, 2021. Terry was born in 1947 in Aberdeen, WA. He grew up in poverty in Fountain, CO, but nevertheless excelled academically, was an outstanding athlete, and was president of his senior class. In 1966 he married Lori Crandall (who looked like Sophia Loren). Despite his opposition to the war in Vietnam, he went into the army at the behest of Lori and her father. When Lori filed for divorce, Terry attempted suicide, refused to continue to serve in the army, and was court-martialed. He spent 2 years in Fort Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary and received a Bad Conduct Discharge, which he hung prominently as a badge of honor and his son promises to do the same. Upon release from prison, Terry attended Gustavus Adolphus College in Mankato, MN. He graduated with a BA in Philosophy and attended Harvard University on a Rockefeller Fellowship. He then entered the PhD program in Philosophy at University of Iowa. He married Sue Shirk and they divorced, after which she entered into a gay relationship. Due to opposition from his own dissertation advisor, Dr. Moltke Gram, who wanted a sexual relationship with him, Terry left the University of Iowa and became a union painter in Colorado with his brother, Ron. He married Mary Jane Lapointe, one of his former students, in 1976 after living in sin with her for several years. Due to Mary Jane’s constant nagging, he returned to sit for his oral exams in Iowa City and obtained his PhD. At his 20th High School reunion, Dr. Kent learned that he had a son with Lori Crandall named Daren, whom he was happy to get to know and love. Daren later married and had 2 children, Dr. Kent’s beautiful granddaughters Courtney and Ally Dudgeon. Dr. Kent taught philosophy at Michigan Tech University, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, Indiana University/Indianapolis, and University of Indianapolis. He and Mary Jane had a son, Daniel, in 1982. His father’s pride and joy, Daniel received a BA in Philosophy and then went to law school. He now practices law with Mary Jane. Terry and Mary Jane adopted an African son, Toumani Dembele, who was a street kid in Mali with severe facial deformities that required numerous surgeries performed gratis by Dr. Wally Zollman in Indianapolis. Toumani died in a car accident. While teaching at University of Indianapolis, Dr. Kent took a sabbatical and obtained an MA in History and Philosophy of Science from Indiana University. Dr. Kent quit his tenured teaching position to battle the marauding droves of honeysuckle invading his property. His grandson Carson was born in 2016 and was the brightest star in his life through the time of his death. Dr. Kent is survived by his sons--Daniel Kent (Laura) and Daren Dudgeon, his grandchildren--Carson, Courtney and Ally, his brother--Roy (Judy), his nephews--Kendall (Kim), and Justin (Nicole), his nieces—Kristen (Tom), Chandie and Jennifer (Chad), his beloved professor friends--Dr. Stephen Kellert and Dr. Ted Talbot, and by his ex-wife whom he still loved a lot, Mary Jane. He was preceded in death by his parents, Rex Kent and Inez McLean, his sister, Reba, and his brothers, Ron and Farrell. Terry’s philosophical advice for this obit is from Wittgenstein: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”