Vivian Jean Dent

She was born in Lone Mountain, Tennessee, on May 27, 1934, to Daisy Irene (nee Campbell) Drost and John Drost. She attended Claiborne County High School, where she was known on her basketball team as the person who was sent in to foul people out. On occasion, she raced stock cars, an interesting hobby for a young lady during those times. She also spent time between Tennessee and New York visiting with her mother and father. She started college at East Tennessee State University until she married Billy Grant Cosby and moved to Detroit, Michigan. They had two children: Sandi and Larry.

She returned to Tennessee and attended cosmetology school in Middlesboro, Kentucky, and became a hairdresser. She then moved to Elmsford, New York, and continued her career. She married Patsy Sullo and had a daughter, Shellie.

In 1969, the family moved to New Orleans two weeks before Hurricane Camille. She continued working as a hairdresser and eventually became a salon owner. She was an active member of Beta Sigma Phi, a non-collegiate women’s sorority.

She married again and moved to Killeen, Texas, where she became a co-owner of a construction company. After that marriage, she moved to Dalton, Georgia, and worked as an Administrative Assistant at a carpet and textile factory.

She returned to Killen, Texas, after she married Robert (Bob) Dent. She and Bob enjoyed playing golf (Jean was very proud of her “hole-in-one”), playing bridge, and entertaining at home.

Jean was always busy with crafts and loved making porcelain dolls and other ceramics. She loved planning parties and entertaining. She was an adventurous cook who experimented with many cuisines. Her holiday cookie and candy-making was legendary. She enjoyed traveling to visit family and taking her children on international trips.

For the last 8 years of her life, she lived with her daughter, Sandi, in New Orleans. She spent part of her week at the Lakeview Shepard Center playing bridge and bingo with friends until her health prevented her from continuing.

She is predeceased by her mother and father, many loved aunts and uncles, her husband Bob, and her stepbrother Tommy Bargo. She is survived by her children, Sandra Cosby, Larry Cosby (Cathy), and Shellie Sullo (Douglas Bryceson), stepchildren, Pat Jeffers, Pam Myers, and Bill Dent (Carolyn).

Grandson: Christopher Kinler (Ashley Christensen). Step-Grandchildren: Bryan Havlovic and Alex Bryceson. Great-Grandchildren: Matthew Kinler and Riley Kinler.

She will be missed by her very close and special friends, Janice Wycherley and Charlie Moore.

Interment will be at Fairview Memorial Cemetery in Tazewell, Tennessee, in April. If you desire, instead of flowers, please make a donation of your choice or a donation to Lakeview Shepherd Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.