Mary A. Kent, age 97, passed away peacefully Saturday, January 20, 2024, in Farmington Hills, MI.

Mary was born in Owosso, MI, November 15, 1926, to Clyde Earl Norton and Eva Elsie Norton, the second of three children.  Her older brother Dennis lived and died as a toddler before Mary was born.  Her younger sister Joan was born three years after Mary, and they grew up together on the Pinecroft Poultry farm just north of Owosso.

Mary thrived growing up on a farm.  She loved animals and they were attracted to her.  She raised a cow which won the county fair and finished third in the state fair.  She was very helpful to her father on the farm and mastered driving the tractor at a young age.   She attended the Green Meadows one room school.   At the age of 14 she used the family car to drive the local farm kids to the school in town.  During the depression she mastered the rifle which she would fire in the air to discourage thieves from coming to poach eggs and chickens.  She collected all kinds of pet animals which followed her around the farm.

Mary attended the University of Michigan School of Nursing and became an RN during the Second World War.  With so many nurses gone to support the war effort the students provided extraordinary leadership in the University Hospital and Mary became an expert in clinical nursing skills.

Mary married Edgar James Kent on November 22, 1947.  They were married for 66 years until his death July 8, 2011.  They settled in Detroit and had three children, James Norton, Jennifer Jean, and Judith Eve.   With her children all in school, Mary acquired a part time nursing job at Sinai Hospital in Detroit.  Eventually she accepted a full-time position at the associated Shapiro Nursing School, teaching Clinical Nursing Skills.

Eddie and Mary began attending the Redford Baptist Church in 1954.  In 1955 Mary contracted Polio and was placed in Receiving Hospital's 40 bed women's Polio ward.  Pastor Wayne Clark visited her there and prayed with all the other patients when he found out nobody was visiting anybody in that ward.  Mary recovered fully.  She and her family became increasingly active in the church as her children grew.  In the mid 1960's several women in the church, including Mary, experienced a spiritual awakening which impacted them all for the rest of their lives.  Mary transported lots of children to church activities for years in her 1958 Rambler station wagon which she named Cinderella (she named all her cars!).

When Mary and Eddie retired, they moved to the Detroit Baptist Manor in Farmington Hills   where they lived in a duplex for more than twenty years.  Then Mary lived in the Haworth Center assisted living unit there for nearly eight years.

Mary is survived by Jim and Kathy, their daughter Krystal, their grandchildren Katie, Kaylyn, Cody, Alyssa and Paul, and their great-grandchildren, Brielle, Kal, Kole, and Diana.

Mary is survived by Jenny and Les, their children Jennifer, Sarah, Jason, and Chelsie and their grandchildren Kayla, Chloe, Dakota, Kylie, Steven, Bella, Chase, and Hazel.

Mary is survived by Judy and Brian, their children Eva, Caleb, and Micah, and their grandchildren Elizabeth, Miriella, and Matthew.

A celebration of Mary's life will be scheduled at Crosspointe Meadows Church, 29000 Meadowbrook Rd., Novi, MI 48377-2830 at a date to be determined this summer.

Memorial Contributions in loving memory of Mary may be made to the Crosspointe Meadows Church building fund.

Please keep the Kent family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.