Kent Raulston

KENNETH ADRIAN (KENT) RAULSTON

(Next to youngest child of Clarence Raulston, Sr. and Nannie Bess Yarbrough Raulston)

He passed away at the age of 73 years. Aunt Chris still resides in Clarksville and is well loved by all who know her.

Birth:		Mar. 15, 1930
Death:		May 25, 2003
Kent's parents were: Clarence M. Raulston, Sr. and Nannie Bess Yarbrough Raulston. His siblings were: C.M. Raulston, Jr., Kate Raulston (died at age 10), Willie Garland (goes by Garland), Herbert Wayne, and Cora Sue Raulston Boone. No children. Foster son: Larry David Smith, buried at New Haven. The below was some of the memories read during Uncle Kent's funeral. We stayed up the night before his funeral. Jimmie Ruth practiced her solos and the rest of us jotted down memories. He was very special. A Tribute to Uncle Kent By his nephew, Larry Smith Larry remembers Kent telling him he turned 18 sitting on a hill in the Army watching fireworks go off which were actually bomb shells ... post-World War II destruction. He was probably watching them destroy some armament ... Kent met Chris at Tom Exum's Cafe in the square in Clarksville after he came back from the Army. They eloped to Miller County, Arkansas, where they were married on August 12, 1950. Kent and Chris moved to Dallas with some friends from Red River County. He worked at the Ford Motor Company, what is now Lockheed Martin (was Chance Vought. .. L TV Aerospace), he worked for Lone Star Gas Company, and then he started work at Sears Fashion Merchandising Center where he became a Manager. Kent & Chris moved to Grand Prairie where they bought their first home. They lived in Grand Prairie from 1954 until 1976. They then moved to Garland and lived there near his work until they bought the rock house and moved back to Clarksville. It was always Kent's wish to move back to the farm but a compromise was reached. They bought the home in town and he would have his hobby at the farm. This was a DAILY hobby that he took seriously! Kent continued to work at the Sears Fashion Merchandising Center until he was retired in 1988. He had a heart attack in 1986 but continued to work a couple of years after he recovered. He and Chris moved back to Clarksville in July of 1989 to the rock house on Main Street. Kent continued to maintain a relationship with the people at Sears throughout the remainder of his life. He had a close relationship with his sisters in law. He was great friends with Mary Evelyn, Dorothy, and Derrelline. He and Mary Evelyn would cut up and aggravate each other to the entertainment of all whenever they were together. They were a lot alike. After Mary Evelyn passed away, the routine was passed on to his niece, Sandra. They would argue and fight like cats and dogs all in love and humor to the total entertainment of everyone around them. Larry remembers Paula and Sandra, some of Kent's nieces, got their winter coats each year from Kent and Chris as well as the latest fashion clothes so they'd be cool. He supplied Larry with winter coats and suits ... All the nieces and nephews always looked forward to Christmas events because they always made a haul - Kent & Chris came in loaded with presents. They also had the best Christmas tree in the state. He taught Larry how to play bridge, how to play golf, and he went with him to buy Larry's first car. He was looking in the paper and asked Larry if he'd like to look at a 1956 Chevrolet convertible. They went to Dallas and Chris & Kent took that car and cleaned it, they helped him restore it and put new tires and mufflers on it, and bought a new battery. Larry helped pay for it. .. It was a sense of pride for Larry. Then Larry got a C+ on his report card in Trigonometry. They grounded him from his car - even though Larry had also paid for the car - he was grounded for six weeks riding the bus with the little kids. He said, "Believe me, that was the end of any C's on my report card!" One of the biggest surprises Larry had was that for his high school graduation, Kent gave Larry a new .22 Rifle. Kent set a role model for Larry during the years that were the most important years of his life. Without having Kent and Chris as role models in his life, his life would have turned out very differently. Larry has always from the bottom of his heart tried to be the kind of person that Kent expected him to be, ¬even when it was very very hard for Larry to be that person. He went with Larry to buy his second car - a 1966 Pontiac LeMans, which Kent later purchased and gave Paula. That was part of his generosity. Kent was always supportive of Larry and his jobs and career moves and often told him that the smartest thing he ever did in his life was to marry Jimmie Ruth. He told Larry that at least a thousand times over the next 30 plus years ... even as late as last week he told Larry that same thing. He always said he never knew what Larry did to deserve her. Truth be known, she had a place in his heart that was her very own. Jimmie could do no wrong as far as he was concerned. She was the best cook, the best wife, the best mother, the best everything ... Kent's friends all remember him for his generosity, his friendship, and his never-ending opinions on any subject that you dared to breach. Kent considered himself a "country expert" on almost any topic that was presented to him. Whether it was politics, government, financial advice or farming. He specialized in gardening advice. If you knew Kent, his advice was usually correct, but if it wasn't correct, there was no use in telling him so ... you'd never convince him that he was wrong on any subject, so you might as well keep it to yourself! You didn't dare let him prune your fruit trees. He cut them a little too much EVERY TIME. There's no telling how many trees that Kent planted in his lifetime. He thought that planting trees was something that God intended for a person to do. He took pride in trees he had planted years before. Kent helped Larry plant the trees that he has in his yard now. Retirement did not start off easy with Kent for two reasons: One, he had to restore a certain rock house on Main Street and being the perfectionist that Chris is, they overworked their good friend, James Sauls, and did major restoration and remodeling which required a complete overhaul of the home. Once done, they moved to Clarksville. Within a very short period of time Kent had major foot problems. He enjoyed his retirement and working on the farm. He bought himself a tractor and started his garden. He was a permanent fixture on the farm at Dimple. Part of his daily routine was stopping by Sue's for a glass of tea and checking on her. When Jimmie wasn't working, he'd stop by the Smith place for a glass of tea with Jimmie Ruth as well. He bought a small herd of cattle immediately and began to spoil them. Each cow had a name given to her by Kent based on his own interpretation of the way they acted or looked. Each cow was fed according to their disposition including the ones he called meek or timid in which case they were fed separately. This spoiling of cattle never bothered Kent, of course, but when he was unable to feed due to ill health, it created great difficulty for Lois, Steve, Larry, or anyone else trying to fill his shoes. He would supervise over the phone with specific instructions for each and every cow or calf. Common instructions were to put certain cows in certain areas of the lot, close the gates and give them certain amounts of feed. When they are finished put other cows in there and be sure and call the bull in and feed him an extra ration of cubes. Be sure to remember to unlock the gate when they are finished so they could get out. The same thing when you put out hay. Certain cows were fed separately with square bales in the front pasture because they would not feed with the rest of the herd. Be sure to remember to move the hay rings and put the hay bales on the slight hump so the bales would stay on dry ground. Feed on alternating sides of the pasture and so on and so forth. He also owned Longhorns for a short period of time. They didn't really fit in so he sold them after about a year. Kent always kept the pastures and fences in good shape and he considered it a sin if thistles were allowed to grow in the pasture. When his brothers came to town, it was customary to get in the truck and drive through the pasture around the place. Over a period of years Kent raised many gardens behind CM's house in the old garden plot. He took pride in it and he supplied fresh vegetables to many many people ... tomatoes, squash, okra, etc. Vegetables out of the garden were for everyone to enjoy. His partners in the garden endeavor was his cousin, Katie Low and brother, CM. Kent attempted to get Larry involved in those gardens. He did garden with him one year, but what it amounted to was Larry tilled and Kent bossed it. Jimmie Ruth tilled it this year. It was hard work and she missed going to her job a couple of days as a result of pulled muscles and back pain. Kent's remark to that was that she wouldn't have ended up with a problem like that if she'd have known how to run the tiller in the first place instead of fighting it the whole way. He called Aunt Derrelline just last week telling her about Jimmie tilling the garden, but his slant to Aunt Derrelline was just a little bit different. When he would talk about Jimmie to others, she had no flaws. He was praising the job well done and how he could always count on her to work hard. He loved Jimmie's dressing and banana pudding. He had to plant a certain kind of beans in the garden for Jimmie Ruth every year - he called them Jimmie Ruth's beans. Kent had a phenomenal memory for numbers. He could take any number you could give him four digits deep before you could calculate it. He could deal a deck of cards as quick as he could and give you the total of the faces on the cards that he had dealt at that point. He took time out occasionally to go fishing with his brother, CM and friend, Frank Faulkner, as well as Larry. Here's the wording from an e-mail CM sent about the fishing trip in October 2001 ... with Kent and Frank Faulkner, written @ 11:56 pm: "Trip is finished, got boat parked in garage at 5:00 pm. I have been sound-a-sleepy-bye in recliner since that time. (Note time of day this missive) Frank showed up 5:00 am in new 3/4 ton - four door - 4 wheel drive - Chevy pickup, dark gray. He and I were ready to go but no Kent in sight. We called and he was up but just barely. He urged us to go ahead but I told him to come out immediately and we would have coffee ready. He did and we had coffee and toast all round then departed at 6:15, only 15 minutes late, said Chris awakened him and told him his clock messed up and alarm didn't sound. Launched the boat before sunrise, three men in one boat fished all day, caught six keepers, released them, loaded boat and came home. At your age we would have considered it a weary and unsuccessful day, but we thought it to be very nice. Good food, good company, perfect weather, not many boats and peaceful. As I have said many times, "when you are young, you learn how to catch fish, but when you grow older you learn how to go fishing." When Kent decided to cut hay on the place - no matter when it was - it was common knowledge that it would come a rain for two or three days even if it was July or August. It became a joke. They cut the hay last week - in the rain! Kent was involved with his friends and relatives out at the Raulston home place, and if anybody cut hay or worked the cows, etc. Kent was usually on hand to give his advice whether it was asked for or needed - he enjoyed these activities. Kent considered it his job to ensure the cleanliness and upkeep of at least two of the local cemeteries ... New Haven and Doak. He spent untold hours - he and his buddies - working on those cemeteries. A portion of the New Haven Cemetery was donated by Kent five or six years ago. Maybe back in the 80's ... behind the church. Work days at the cemetery were really tough after a couple of tornadoes demolished the places - moving headstones and downing trees. His time at the Dimple Community Center was a source of enjoyment and pride for him for the past 15 years. Kent served as Trustee of the New Haven Cemetery Fund until the day of his death. CM also remembers fondly Kent at the age of three years. His aunt and uncle had just returned from Altus to raise groceries in the wintertime of 1932-1933. After dinner they would all gather in a semi¬circle around the fire for warmth. Kent was talkative and

did most of his talking from his Daddy's knee. He would hold forth great lengthy tales about all his bull cows - all they actually had was three Jersey milk cows. His stories were that all these bull cows were his. He would describe at length how fat they were and what their colors were, what he planned to do with them, etc.

Lois remembers Matt's 8th grade dance when he had been all dressed up and Kent wanted everything perfect. He'd gotten some bleach water and washed down the patio furniture. Matt sat on the furniture and ruined his pants. By then it was too late to do anything about the pants so Lois had to paint him with black marker.

Paula, Sandra, Jeanie, Linda, and Billy and all the nieces and nephews remember that they all adored Uncle Kent. He was fun, he always took time for them, he was generous, and he was loving. He was always there for us. The great nieces and nephews have been blessed with sharing much with Uncle Kent as well. They were not exempt from all this advice.

Kent went to Dimple High School and graduated in 1947. Sue recalled Kent's graduation day from high school. Kent and his Daddy had been working at the saw mill that day. It had come such a rain Kent and Pa Raulston got stuck in the mud on the way from the saw mill to the house and he didn't make it to his commencement exercise.

Sue said she remembers the time when the dam burst on the pool west of the house with the creek. Pa Raulston (Clarence M., Sr), Hub and Kent went to repair the dam. They repaired it but it was long and tedious work. Kent lost one of his shoes in the process. Back then, folks just owned one pair of shoes and he was as mad as a hornet. They walked for days and days and finally found the shoe three days later in pretty bad shape. That was OK though because that was all he had.

He never failed to be there for Sue and was as generous to her as to everyone else - maybe a little more so because she was the baby sis. He considered it his job after Pa died to look "after" her which included daily checks as to her well being.

Some of Kent's most recent adventures include a restaurant partnership with his nephew, Danny and his family, and a house that he bought to rent out. Not soon after he purchased the rent house, he ended up having to be transported via ambulance to Baylor Hospital in Dallas. From the hospital bed he had directed Chris on getting started with the renovations for the house. It's "under construction" now [at the time of his death].

Kent was one of the best advertisements the restaurant had - exalting it's praises to relatives near and far. He was making folks that lived in Arlington want to come all the way to Clarksville every day just to experience the wonderful food! He praised each and every person that worked there and dared anyone to disagree with him! Since most of us eat there daily, we doubt you'd hear any disagreements to the testaments that it's a great place.

A sense of pride of ownership could always be detected wherever Kent & Chris lived. Their yards in Grand Prairie, Garland, and Clarksville always looked like a golf course.

Kent will be missed and never forgotten. Memories will be shared of Kent for years and years to come. He was special, he was the most animated person you'll ever come across, and he held separate and strong ties and bonds with everyone that had a relationship with him. Finding someone to replace a personality like Kent's in our lives would be an impossible task. He was the classic "one-of-a-kind" unique individual. He was one that you wanted to arm wrestle and hug at the same time. As the old saying goes, the mold was broken with Kent.

• He was a Mentor to many. He and Chris have always attracted young people because they love to be around them. He could take a young adult and spend time with them, develop special relationships with them, and make such a positive influence that it affected their futures. He did this many many times throughout his life.
• He was a Supervisor to anybody in the area. If you were around him, you were supervised. It wasn't ever taken in a negative context. As Larry said, he considered himself an expert in most fields, and he never minded sharing his views. Most of us have only found out the roots to this in the past couple of days as we reminisced his life. It seems he was given the "floor" and allowed to "hold court" from the time he could speak. His father delighted in this and his family was entertained by this. No wonder everyone knew when Kent spoke - everyone listened!
• Kent had high expectations of himself all his life. He therefore had high expectations of everyone close to him. If you were chosen as Kent's Mentee, you know that meeting his expectations wasn't easy. In fact, you likely never felt you met them. He never ceased to help people he loved improve. He expected much and he never tired of trying to teach. He loved to teach finances, gardening, farming ... basically any topic that was brought up, there was a teaching experience to be had from Kent.
• He was a volunteer. He loved the community of Clarksville and remained active in all aspects of it. He was particularly sentimental about the Dimple community because that's where his roots were.
• Kent was a family man. He took care of his family. He considered himself the central focal point and kept everyone apprised of the latest family happenings. He kept us close. When we could have been separated by death or circumstances, Kent kept us pulled together in a special way that caused us all to be sentimental and share a bond that can never be broken.
• Kent shared the Raulston trait of having a sentimental attachment to "The Home Place." There's hardly a day that went by that he wasn't there. We converted old 8mm film to video in 1995, and what we found was that Kent and Chris spent a whole lot of time at the farm - even though they lived in the city. When it was time for Pa Raulston to vaccinate cattle, Kent was holding the cows and Pa was injecting them. Work on the farm was a weekend pastime for him and CM even though they were both in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
• Everything Kent said was laced with humor and fun. He was good natured and all his relatives adored him. His mentoring techniques included making people feel good about themselves and encouraging them to work hard and excel in everything they set out to accomplish. He and Chris loved young people and mentored multitudes.
• If Kent had your attention, he had your FULL attention. If you have ever ridden in a car with him, you were taught a lesson along the way. If Kent saw a tree that he knew the history of, you would learn the history of it before he got you out of the car. One of his traditions when folks came to the farm is to take the menfolk down the pasture in his truck. He would comment on every cow, every tree, every pond, and every outbuilding. He would tell you memories of hunting, fishing, folks that used to live near the place, folks that came to stay while growing up, and all the details he could produce. When you got out of the truck, you had a pretty detailed description of the Raulston farm.
• Kent didn't mind calling on you asking for help. He'd call Robert, Larry, or Steve and tell them that so 'n so needed doing and they'd need to come on such 'n such a day and take care of it. It was never a burden, because they all knew he'd do the same for them.

One of the main reasons Kent's death was such a shock is because he was next to the youngest of his siblings and up until recently was so full of energy and zest you'd never figure him to have all the health problems that he'd lived with for years. He would comment on his aches and pains, but he'd do it in such a way as to minimize it and make you laugh out loud at his descriptions. None of us really knew how he suffered with his ailments.

Garland Raulston family memories of Uncle Kent written by Linda.

The Garland Raulston family memories of Uncle Kent are many but what stands out most is his never failing interest in our lives. He has always been generous almost to a fault with all of the children, pushing, prodding, yes PRODDING us to be ambitious in our accomplishments in life. I'm not sure we met his expectations but if we didn't, he let us know about it!! One of his greatest pleasures has been to watch the kids enjoy holidays and he and Olas never failed to have our bonfire and fireworks ready for Christmas. I think, most of all, he has LOVED family.

Garland shared childhood memories of him with Jeanie and Linda on the way home last night. He said when Uncle Kent was very small, Papa Clarence Raulston would sit in front of the wood stove at night with Uncle Kent on his knee while Ma and the other kids sat around listening. Papa Clarence would laugh and laugh as Uncle Kent spun story after story for everyone. Apparently even at that age, he was a talker!!!

Garland also shared the memory of when he was in the Navy and Mary Evelyn stayed with Pa and Ma Raulston while he was away. Uncle Kent was very young when they married and Kent and Mary Evelyn developed a very special relationship. He used to sneak around and read their letters to each other. That's how he discovered that Mary was pregnant with Jeanie. He said "Don't worry, Mury, I won't tell anyone. It will be our secret." Of course, THAT secret didn't last long!!

Pictured above left to right: Kent, CM, and Herbert (Hub) Raulston.

Kent and Paula

Email Paula Duchesne

Kent on the kids' go cart

Kent Raulston at Guadalcanal.

Uncle Kent Raulston's picture from Guadalcanal.