Lois Janet Kent

Long-time Ellis County resident, Lois Kent, passed after a lengthy hospital stay on the evening of May 11. Lois was born March 19,1930 in Van Zandt county to Floyd and Janie McGuire and was the next to youngest of their five children. Educated at the Turner School in Wills Point, Lois left to see the world when she married her late husband, John D. Kent of New Orleans, in 1945. They relocated to Dallas soon after the end of the war and began a new life. Lois worked primarily as a secretary and bookkeeper after attending Draughons Business School in Dallas. One of her first positions was with Wilson Sporting Goods and she told many stories of her interaction with Babe Zaharias, Doak Walker, Kyle Rote, Sr. and other sports stars of the day. She moved from there to Grinnell Company as a switchboard operator and spent 17 years there, the switchboard she used there is now in the Smithsonian on display. Along the way she had started to build a family. First a daughter, Betty Janette, was born on December 21, 1945. After the move to Dallas, her first son Joel Keith came into the world June 14, 1957. Finally, at 41, she had John Kyle and it has been said that it was like raising three only children do to the spacing of their births. Ultimately her children and grandchildren became her life and how she identified with the world. She often said that she spent 45 years raising children from the birth of her first til her last graduated from high school. In the next breath she would tell you that she wouldn’t have had it any other way. She became an Ellis County resident in 1977 with the move to Waxahachie and loved the small town aspect of her new home. Lois stayed in Waxahachie until 2006 when she relocated to Houston for a period to be close to her grandson, Jackson. She subsequently spent time in and around Houston and California visiting with her children before returning to Waxahachie in 2015. Lois was a quick wit and a loving soul, always willing to help anyone and no one was a stranger for too long. She loved to draw and sew, from quilts to clothes nothing to was out of her wheelhouse. Most importantly she gave everything she had for the good of her children and grandchildren. “Mom is always on your side” was one of her favorite sayings. She is preceded in death by her mother and father, a brother, Arthur Lee Massey and three sisters, Inez, Imogene and Betty Jo. Her husband of 52 years, John D. passed in 1997 and now they are rejoined. Lois is survived by her daughter, Betty Janette Morris (and husband, Richard), eldest son, Joel Keith (and partner, Roger Wertenberger), and youngest son, John Kyle. Also her loves, a granddaughter, Pamela Annette Murphy (and husband, Todd) and her grandson, Jackson Lane Kent. Also surviving Lois are a niece, Linda King (and husband, Jerry) that had always been like another daughter to her. Lois leaves us all with heavy hearts, but only wished happiness and love for us all. She will rest next to John at Laurel Land and be free of worry and pain.