Walter Kent Hower Obituary (1952

LINCOLN - Walter Kent Hower, 68, of Lincoln, IL, passed away on Saturday, January 23, 2021 in Lincoln, IL. Kent was born on April 4, 1952 in Lincoln, IL, the son of Walter and Elaine Hower and younger brother to Terry Hower. Kent is survived by his three children: Tara (Matt) Comstock, Ali Williams, and Kyle (Caroline) Hower, and six grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, brother, and his son-in-law, Ryan Williams. Kent's greatest love and his proudest achievement were his children and grandchildren. He was "Dad" to Tara and Matt, Ali and Ryan, and Kyle and Caroline, and "Papa" to Ryan and Owen Comstock, Harper and Barrett Williams, and Nolan and Isla Hower. To them, he passed on his kind heart, a sarcastic sense of humor, and an unwavering devotion to family. There was nothing he loved more than laughing around a table with his children and their spouses while watching his grandchildren play and grow up together. Kent was a lifelong Lincoln resident. He graduated from Chester East Lincoln grade school and Lincoln Community High School and then planted his roots in Lincoln to raise his family. For decades, Kent worked as a Service Representative for Pitney Bowes in Springfield, IL, where he was a friend and mentor to colleagues and a trusted resource for his clients. When he retired in 2014, Kent enjoyed spending his time on his multitude of hobbies and interests, as well as spending time with family and his close friends. Kent was an avid "fixer" with a mechanical brain. There wasn't anything he couldn't diagnose, take apart, and put back together to make better than before. Often, he applied that gift to musical instruments, as he enjoyed buying, refurbishing, and selling guitars and drum kits. Kent was a talented musician, a passion that began when he was a child and stayed with him his entire life. He passed along a love of great music to Tara, Ali, and Kyle, whose fondest childhood memories are filled with his guitar strumming and Rock & Roll legends playing from the stereo. In his retirement, Kent also indulged his love for traveling (by car or on his motorcycle) and often combined it with another of his lifelong hobbies: photography. Aside from his children and grandchildren, his favorite photography subjects were the mountains of Colorado and the beaches of Hawaii. In 2000, Kent received a kidney transplant that saved his life after a long battle with Polycystic Kidney Disease. Since then, he has been an advocate for organ donation and a supporter of the PKD Foundation (pkdcure.org). While we still know that Kent has left us too soon, it's only because of organ donation that Kent lived another 20 years, within which he met his grandchildren and saw his own children graduate, get married, and start families of their own. Kent will be greatly missed and remembered often by all that knew and loved him. The family is being served by Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Lincoln and, due to COVID safety precautions, only a small private family service is planned. Memorials may be made in Kent's honor to the Gift of Hope, the organ and tissue donation network of Illinois.