Kent Wayne Townley

Kent Wayne Townley born on the 19th of December 1945. He passed away at the age of 74 on May 6, 2020 in Fargo, North Dakota. He was the son of Vernon and Hallie Townley of Woodston, KS and grew up in the Ash Rock Community. Kent attended the Ash Rock Country School in a one room schoolhouse. Kent graduated from Woodston Rural High School in 1963, where he played football, basketball and ran track. He was an overall good athlete. He furthered his education at Fort Hays State University and then went into the National Guard. In 1965, he married his high school sweetheart, Janese Denio. During their time together you would find them dancing to local bands as in Red Dogs, Flippers, and the Blue Things. Kent loved his rock and roll and could shimmy like no other. Kent would love to take his sweetheart to the Drive-Inn for a good movie. It wasn’t uncommon for all of their friends to join in for a beer can shucking party. Kent loved his work of farming with his dad and brother, Larry Lala. In 1984 he branched out on his first solo adventure of custom harvesting. He went from Texas to North Dakota from May to October. He continued for 36 years doing what he loved, we don’t think he would have ever retired. If you ever saw him in the field in the early days, he always had on cut off shorts, a fuzzy perm and a beard. He would get home at 2 am from drilling wheat, and she’d say, sit down, it’s time for a perm. He was lucky to get 2 or 3 hours of sleep. He started out with Gleaners and then moved up to John Deere’s after a few years. The “Gleaners” or “JUNK” as he was known to call them, were always broken down. We can’t forget about the Unit 69 as his first service truck. His help may or may not have put a keg inside and called it a “party on wheels”. If you have ever worked for KT, you will remember the “quality motels” and “gourmet meals”. From floating bologna and cheese sandwiches on moldy bread, but when that was your only meal, you ate it. During high school Kent found a passion for fast cars and started his hobby of drag racing. If he wasn’t drag racing with friends, he was heading to Great Bend for actual events. Being competitive and his need for speed, he started racing motorcycles on scramble tracks. He was a member of the American Motorcycle Association. In 1976 he moved onto racing cars, hobby stock and then late model cars. He was the president of the Northwest Kansas Racing Association. His favorite number was 16 and then changed it to L16. Kent’s garage on the farm was always full of people, friends, and social gatherings. He was someone that was fun to be around. He and Vernon Strutt were the best of friends and always got in trouble together. He had a love for hunting and was always a part of a large group and enjoyed blocking the most. He loved shooting blackbirds with his grandsons. Our family always went camping and fishing at Glen Elder and Webster. We were always surrounded by family and friends. He was always very patient when he would take all of his kids fishing. It was always an adventure with lines tangled and kids anxious to wet their lines. He was adamant that he was to catch the first fish, get the net boys. If the game wardens would come by and shake their head, and instead of checking for a fishing license, they’d say, “don’t worry about it, with all those kids, I’m sure you aren’t catching anything anyway”. Kent was avid about the walleye and preached that was the “only” fish to catch. He and Vernon Strutt caught the largest fish in a tournament at Glen Elder Lake. The picture in the paper had a picture of Vernon and captioned Kent Townley. If Kent wasn’t camping and fishing, he and his brother Larry, were always found out at Kirwin Lake waterskiing on Sundays. He enjoyed a crop tour or country cruise, whether business or pleasure, he and his friends (Ronbo, PC, GW, Vernon, Jim, Dale, Dave to name a few). They were always laughing and having a great time with a frosty cold one in hand. He and his wife enjoyed spending time together and traveling all over the US. They took lots of trips in his favorite RV – “The Titanic”. They always thought people were so friendly on the road when in all actuality, the muffler had been dragging for miles. They loved going on cruises with other couples and found they loved Florida the most. Kent was quick witted and always had a comeback for everything. Ornery, ornery, ornery. If he liked you, he was always giving you a hard time from the minute he met you, you were always fair game. He had a love for life and all the people around him, he was a jokester from day one and that has always been the case. “One of a Kind”. Kent is survived by his wife Janese of the home in Stockton; children Sandra Townley of Stockton, KS, Michael Townley of Woodston, KS, Shannon Rappoport and husband Kevin of Lone Tree, CO, and Chad Townley and wife Hanna of Lincoln, KS; brother Larry Lala and wife Betty of Woodston; two grandchildren, Logan Cone (Shannon) and Hunter Townley (Chad). He is preceded in death by his parents Vernon and Hallie Townley.