Kent Taylor Sparkia

Kent Sparkia passed away peacefully on September 22, 2021. Kent was born in Lansing, Michigan on April 24, 1944, and was the only child in the union between Clarence and Irene Sparkia. Kent lived his life devoted to his wife, Pat, and their three sons. Kent worked for Michigan Millers Insurance Company in Lansing, Michigan for almost 50 years, beginning shortly before technology would take hold in the industry and jumping at the chance to move from the mailroom to computer programming when the company requested assistance from all employees interested in learning this new technology. His boys loved going to his office on hot summer days where they’d walk into the coldest room they’d ever been in and see the monstrosity that was the mainframe in the early 1970s. They didn’t understand what he did for a living, but when he would say, “The mainframe BLEW UP, and I have to go into the office to fix it”, they thought their dad had the coolest job ever!

Kent and Pat met in 1963 at Knapp’s Department Store in downtown Lansing, where he worked on the loading dock and assembly departments and Pat worked in gift wrapping. In 1965 they were married; a union and partnership that would last 54 years, produce 3 sons, 6 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren. The couple loved to travel by car and they’d spend their vacations driving around the country. By the end of each summer, they’d both have one extremely tanned arm denoting their journeys with the windows down and their arms propped up on each side of the car; each believing the best part of any trip was the experiences from the journey, and not the destination itself.

Kent’s love and devotion to his family had no boundaries. He believed his obligation was to make sure his wife’s life and his children’s lives were better than his. The ways in which he did this are many, but the most significant were in teaching his boys through his example. Although stoic, he would cry when heartbroken; expressed his love for us outwardly and in the presence of anyone; and, although Kent’s family was a traditional one in which he worked and Pat maintained the home so money was never in abundance, his boys never remembered going without anything they needed, and because of that, never remembered their dad buying anything he actually wanted. Kent was devout in his belief in Christ and saw to it that his family attended church every Sunday for Sunday school, the main service, and evening services. Kent was quiet and unassuming, and would often quote the verse in Proverbs that, “Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.”

Kent was preceded in death by his wife, Pat, his parents Clarence and Irene (Taylor) Sparkia, and his half-sister, Joanne (Sparkia) McCallum. He is survived by his sons, Scott (Jane), Michael (Lori), and Jason, as well as 8 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Shortly after Kent’s retirement, Pat was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, which deprived them of the time they had hoped to travel together, and he spent the years preceding her death sitting with her in silence as the illness had taken her mind long before her body succumbed to the disease in 2020. Because we have experienced the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s, the family asks that in lieu of flowers, you please send donations to either the Alzheimer’s Association (https://www.alz.org/) or the church of your choice.

A visitation will be held on September 28, 2021, from 1:00-3:00p.m. at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Home, 900 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing, Michigan 48912, and a graveside service being held at Evergreen Cemetery, 1709 E. Mt. Hope Avenue, Lansing, MI 48910, immediately thereafter.

Although Kent would assert that he had a wonderful life, we have no doubt that upon ending his journey here on earth, he arrived in heaven, met his Savior, and quickly sought out the embrace of his beloved wife. Upon his arrival and this reunion, we believe Kent changed his opinion that the journey, and not the destination, is the best part.