Albert L. Kent
Beloved father and grandfather, former fuel oil company president, a 'prime mover in the creation' of various NJ park trails
Albert L. Kent, 92, of West Caldwell, N.J., died Monday, Sept. 17, 2018.
Born in 1925 in Hackensack, N.J., to Albert L. Kent Sr. and Hildegarde B. Kent, he grew up in Westwood, N.J., and East Orange, N.J., and graduated from Westwood H.S. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the Navy's V-12 program, graduating with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1946.
He met his wife Dorothy (who predeceased him in 2016) when both worked at Curtiss-Wright in Ohio after World War II. They married in 1950 and moved to West Orange, where they lived for over 55 years before moving to the Crane's Mill Retirement Community in West Caldwell.
He was vice president and, subsequently, president of the Home Fuel Oil Company of East Orange from 1950 to 1976.
Mr. Kent was a lifelong lover of the outdoors and was an ardent hiker, canoeist and kayaker. From 1989 to 2009, he was employed by the Morris County Park Commission as coordinator of trail and greenway projects.
He was the prime mover in the creation of the Liberty Water Gap Trail across New Jersey, the Lenape Trail from Newark, N.J., to Millburn, N.J., and Roseland, N.J., and the Patriot's Path in Morris County, N.J.
Mr. Kent was long active with the Sierra Club and the New Jersey Environmental Lobby and was a life member of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. He went hiking every day until he was no longer physically able.
He is survived by four sons, John (Sue) of Leeds, England, Stephen of Geneva, Ill., Donald (Martha) of Essex Junction, Vt., and Roger (Dorothy) of Newton, N.J.; one daughter, Susan Bennett (Tony) of Middlesex N.J., and nine grandchildren.
A memorial gathering will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the NYNJTC, the Sierra Club, or the Alzheimer's Foundation.