BOWERS, KENTON (KENT)

by Mr. & Mrs. Richard Ripley

Entry F25 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Kent Bowers.

Kenton (Kent) Bowers was born on August
23, 1887 in a dugout on the Dismal River to
Webster and Roxie (Ripley) Bowers. He was
one of the first children born in this area that
was to become Hooker County.

When he was about 10 years old he had
steomyelites which left him with bone prob-
lems that bothered him all of his life.

When he was old enough he took a
homestead north of Whitman, Nebraska.

He served in the Army during World War
I for a short while. On his return home he
went to Alliance, Nebraska to work. While
there he married Mary Collins but this union
did not last long. In a few years he moved on
to Denver, Colorado to work.

When his father became ill in 1932 Kent
returned to Mullen to help care for him. After
his father's death in 1933, Kent remained in
Mullen. He and his sister Susie tried raising
chickens but gave up after a couple of years.
Then Kent started house painting and
painted many buildings for ranchers as well
as all over Mullen.

Kent belonged to the American Legion and
was an active member and worker.

Kent was a very quiet and soft spoken man.
He had a dry sense of humor and always had
a friendly greeting for all. He went to live in
the Pioneer Memorial Rest Home about 1973
and lived there until his death on April 16,
1977. He is buried in the Ceder View
Cemetery in Mullen, Nebraska.