Kent Wayne Townley

Kent Wayne Townley was born on December 19, 1945. He passed away on May 6, 2020, in Fargo, North Dakota, at the age of 74.

He was the son of Vernon and Hallie Townley of Woodston, Kansas and grew up in the Ash Rock community. Kent attended Ash Rock Country School in a one-room schoolhouse, and graduated from Woodston Rural High School in 1963. He played football, basketball and ran track and 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 such as Red Dogs, Flippers, and the Blue Things. Kent loved his rock and roll and could shimmy like no other. He loved taking his sweetheart to the drive-in for a good movie. It wasn’t uncommon for all of their friends to join in for a beer can shucking party.

Kent loved to farm with his dad, Vernon, 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 each year. He continued this for 36 years—doing what he loved so much, and odds are he would have never 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 a.m. from drilling wheat, and his wife would say, “Sit down, it’s time for a perm.” He was lucky to get two or three hours of sleep.

He started out with Gleaners and then moved up to John Deeres after a few years. The “Gleaners” or “JUNK” as he was known to call them, were always broken down. The unforgettable Unit 69 was his first service truck. His help may or may not have put a keg inside it and called it a “party on wheels.” If you ever worked for KT, you remember the “quality motels” and “gourmet meals.” When floating bologna and cheese sandwiches on moldy bread 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 very 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 later changed it to L16. Kent’s garage on the farm was always full of people, friends, and social gatherings. He was someone who 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.

The family always enjoyed camping and fishing at Glen Elder and Webster. They were always surrounded by family and friends. Kent 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 and for the boys to go and get the net. If a game warden happened to come by, they’d 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 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, and Dave to name a few) 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 United States. They took many trips in his favorite RV, “The Titanic.” They always thought people were so friendly when driving down the roads 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. He was 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. He was “one of a kind.”

Kent is survived by his wife, Janese, of the home in Stockton; children Sandra Townley of Stockton; Michael Townley of Woodston; Shannon Rappoport and husband Kevin of Lone Tree, CO; and Chad Townley and wife Hanna of Lincoln, KS; a 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.

A graveside service was held Saturday, May 9th, at 1:00 p.m., at Ash Rock Cemetery in Woodston.

Memorials are suggested to Kent Townley Memorial Fund and may be sent in care of Plumer-Overlease Funeral Home, 723 North First Street, Stockton, KS 67669.