In Memoriam: Kent Snow

I first met Kent Snow on Christmas Day in 1979.  It was in the house that the Snow family built together on Sugarloaf Mountain, between Boulder and Nederland.  Kathy and I were the guests of Jim, Kent's eldest brother and Kathy's soon-to-be life mate.  It was the first Christmas I had spent away from my home and my parents.  I considered the piles of snow all around us pretty, but much too cold for my liking.  I remember that I drank a lot of hot chocolate that day.
  I was amazed that there was no television in the house, and stated so to Kent, who was 4 days shy of his 15th birthday.  Kent knew that I was uncomfortable and made a great effort to show me all of the old-fashioned games that were scattered throughout the house.  I spent the majority of the day in Kent's company, and found him to be a very interesting young man - although none of our passions seemed to intersect, except in reading.   The next time I saw Kent was at Kathy and Jim's wedding in August 1981.  He was 16 - a leggy colt of a young man - but extremely helpful and a good companion.
  I moved to Boulder after my husband died, and found that brother-in-law Jim's family had scattered a bit; his sister Kathy and her husband lived in Longmont, brother Dave and wife Tracey lived in Niwot, sister Fran and her family were in Denver, sister Laura and her family were in Fort Collins, and youngest brother Kent, his wife Vanessa, and their two kids were in Rapid City, South Dakota.
  Yesterday morning, my sister Kathy and her husband Jim, and the Snow clan's step-mother, Anne, left Boulder to visit Kent and his family in South Dakota.  Kent was in the hospital again, still battling a cancerous brain tumor.  Kent died yesterday afternoon.  He would have had his 50th birthday in late December.  He is survived by his wife, son and daughter, his step-mother, and two brothers and their spouses, three sisters and their spouses and nine nephews and nieces.
  Kent loved word puzzles.  He loved to make puns.  He loved airplanes and flying.  He loved his family very deeply.  His entire family, and his entire extended family, will miss his wit and charm and love.  Rest in peace, dear brother.....

Vanessa and Kent Snow

Kent Snow