Kent Randall Sanctuary

Kent Randall Sanctuary, age 78, went to be with the Lord on February 19, 2025, in Roseville, California. Kent was born in Oakland, California and grew up in the Richmond Annex. He attended Fairmont Elementary School, Portola Middle School and graduated in 1964 from El Cerrito High School. After high school, he attended the California College of Arts and Crafts and graduated in December 1969 with a degree of BFA. His major was Graphic Design .

In 1968 he met his wife, Diane, at Temple Baptist Church in Richmond, California. He was the organist, and she was a friend of the pastor. They dated for a few months and were married in August of 1969. Shortly after their marriage and his college graduation he received his draft notice. He enlisted in the army reserves and served as a chaplain’s assistant. A fun fact, he did not want to cut his hair so for his monthly weekend meetings he would wear a wig.

The first job in his field of Graphic Design was with Miller Freeman. They published books and magazines, and Kent was excited to design several books over the five years he worked there. In 1977 he moved to Orangevale and worked in several typesetting shops until he opened his own business called Vintage Typographics from 1980 to 1989. Beside typesetting he would design brochures, programs, letterheads, etc. After closing the business, he worked for Sutter Health in the print shop. He was approached by Foundation Health (Healthnet Federal Services) and began working for them in 1995 until he retired in 2012.

One of Kent’s loves was playing the organ and piano. Over the years he played in many churches, at DeMolay installations, and weddings. When both his children and grandchildren were little, he would hold them on his lap as he practiced. It was a joy to listen as he played and filled the house with music. In 2023 he fulfilled a dream as he played on a pipe organ for a church service.

Kent had many interests and hobbies including old theaters, Disneyland, ocean liners, and World Fairs. On a trip to the East Coast to visit the New York World’s Fair in 1964, he and his parents stopped at many of the old theaters where he would take photographs. Over the years, he collected books and brochures of various World Fairs. In 2019, he donated his collection to the Fresno State Library.

In 1957 when he was eleven, his parents took him on a 6-week tour of Europe. The highlight of the trip was sailing on the ocean liners, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth. That trip created in Kent a love of ships and cruising. After that trip he would go into San Francisco and visit the offices of the steam ship companies collecting brochures, deck plans and anything else related to ships. After retiring, Kent and Diane took several cruises traveling to Hawaii, Alaska, Europe and the Panama Canal. In October 2017 they sailed on the Queen Mary 2 to England to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1957 trip. While on that cruise he posted every day on Facebook details of his of first trip. In 2024 he `1 shared his story of the trip with his parents at the Southern California Steamship Historical Society which met on the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

Kent loved Disneyland. He and then later his wife, children, and grandchildren would go to Disneyland frequently. He loved the rides and especially the landscaping. There is bookshelf devoted to books about Disneyland, Walt Disney and Imagineering. In 1994 and 2008 Kent and Diane were on trips to Japan where he went to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea.

After retiring Kent volunteered at Summit Christian School and with CYT (Christian Youth Theater). At Summit Christian School he worked with the students on the yearbooks. He enjoyed sharing his knowledge of design. With CYT, Kent designed the programs (playbills) for many of the shows.

Gardening was another love. He took a half-acre of bare ground and covered it with trees, shrubs, and flowers.

Family was very important to him. He loved his two sons and shared special interests with them - Disneyland, Volkswagens, and camping. He celebrated the birth of each of his grandchildren and loved spending time with them and celebrating their accomplishments.

Kent was predeceased by his father Ernest Sanctuary and mother Matilda Sanctuary. He is survived by his wife Diane, sons Mark Douglas Sanctuary (Amy) and Jason Allan Sanctuary (Jennifer) and grandchildren Abigail, Caleb, Nicholas and Benjamin.

His Celebration of Life will be held at River City Christian, 10933 Progress Court, Rancho Cordova, California on March 15, 2025 at 11:00am.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Kent Sanctuary Scholarship Fund with Christian Youth Theater (CYT) Sacramento. Checks can be mailed to CYT Sacramento, PO Box 567, Roseville, CA 95661 or through Venmo @cytsacramento