Blake Clifford Kent

Blake was about 18 months old when he stopped crying. From then on he was a very good little boy. One thing that stood out was when he started to talk, Blake probably started talking at an average age, but what wasn’t average is that when he started to talk, his words were pronounced properly and came out in complete sentences.

Blake was a very kind hearted all his life. As an infant and toddler he had a cat named Bobby. He would spend a lot of time mauling that cat. One day Blake, who was just about 3 or 4, came home home carrying Bobby very concerned. Bobby had been run over by a train and had been dead for some time.

Blake provided me an excellent example to follow from the earliest of ages. The patience that he had was incredible. Even though he was bigger and stronger than I was, he would never return an angry punch, unless you were Aubrey… Aubrey found a way to test Blake’s patience. When mom and dad were away one evening, we found Aubrey screaming for help. She had barricaded herself in the bathroom, which had no door locks. Blake had found a knife from the kitchen and was determined to get through the bathroom door all the while screaming at her. Being on the same side of the door as Blake the rest of us kids opted to leave it and hope for the best. Aubrey did survive the night, hiding in the bathroom. Blake referred to that event as ‘A character building exercise and nothing more’.

Blake loved being outdoors. Whether it was playing basketball, camping, swimming, fishing or whatever. One day while fishing Krista made an attempt to cast her line out, but it had snagged on something. So, without looking behind her she pulled harder. The hook was still snagged so she pulled yet harder. That’s about when Dad started yelling stop! Krista had snagged Blake’s hand, and he was standing there looking at it. Dad had to take Blake to the hospital to get the hook pulled out of his hand.

Blake always had great advice for his younger brothers, and being fearless he had lots of good ideas. One winter day we were sledding down Portneuf ave on the south side of Arimo. It was then that Blake presented one of his excellent ideas. He says it would be sweet if I (Morgan) went down the hill with a hat pulled down over your eyes. I protested and asked how I would know if i got off course? I wouldn’t know when it was time to jump off, well, he says - I will get on the back of the sled and i will tell you when to jump if the sled goes in the wrong direction. So i agreed and down i went, except Blake did not get on the sled with me, and I didn’t hear the cries to bail off of the sled, and that is why i hit the parked car at the bottom of the hill, which cut my head open and provided a great older brother story.

When Blake was about 12, he was at the old grain bins by the tracks with me and a few of our buddies. Curious and fearless as he was, he decided to take the elevator to the top, instead of climbing the ladder like we would usually do. The counterweight outweighed him by quite a bit and when he released the break, he was at the top in no time at all, screaming all the way. Derald Armstrong heard the commotion from his store, came over, and after climbing up the ladder was able to provide the weight needed to bring him back to the ground.

Blake was a hard, diligent worker. In high school Blake worked for Spencer Olsen moving pipe and cutting hay. Blake and his buddies Paul and Boyd were up early so they could get the lines moved every day, and he would work all hours of the night cutting, raking and bailing the hay. One day while moving pipe one of the lines pressurized while he was putting them together, the line came apart and hit him in the face. He didn’t act like he was in pain. Spencer ran him in for stitches, and that is how the scar below his bottom lip came to be. He ended up working the next day and acted like nothing happened.

There are lots of pipe moving stories involving Blake, he gets credit for the damage to the blue bullet (the pipe moving car) that finally did it in. He lost control on a gravel road and ended up going backwards into a hay field. Blake was a fearless friend, always pushing the limits and finding ways to get the next thrill for himself and those with him.

He also helped our father building and remodeling houses. Working with Blake was always good because he could stay focused so we could get done. He learned the difference between right and wrong early on, and in High School he very rarely crossed that line. He was the rock that kept him and his buddies out of trouble most of the time.

During a snow day at school Blake and Brad took to the streets on the famous Kent family four-wheeler! They would get going as fast as they could then spin out of control on the Hwy and then repeat. They were in front of Derald’s store and as they were spinning these out-of-control cookies they hit a dry spot and rolled the four-wheeler a few times. When the world stopped spinning, they were both laying in the middle of the road, the four-wheeler was 20 or 30 feet away and Blake yells Snow Plow is coming, causing Brad to go into complete and total panic!!

Blake had many adventures with his cousins, Von and Landon. On one such adventure the 3 of them took the Brower’s horses camping. Blake was bringing up the rear on Brownie, and when they were going up a hillside, Landon heard a shout, looked back in time to see Blake on the ground and Brownie running past with the saddle underneath him still strapped on. Camping that night was cold. Von said he heard that the less clothes you had on the warmer you would be so each of them stripped down to their underwear inside of their sleeping bags thinking they would be all the warmer. In the middle of the night, they were awakened by horses running past the tent! And in the ensuing moments there were 3 teenage boys running around the forest, in their underwear, in the middle of the night, under a bright full moon, trying to catch the horses.

On a family camping trip/bike ride in Island Park Blake lost his glasses while crossing the Madison River on our bicycles. We tried to find them for as long as anyone could stand in that ice cold water, but they were gone. There was a stretch of life, when Blake was a complete clutz, he would break everything he touched. There were many plates, glasses, bowls, broken.

In the winter we would haul our sleds up to the mountains on the snowmobiles and slide down the big canyons to see who could make it the farthest without crashing or losing our sleds.

Blake would stay up late doing homework, listening to music (usually Boys 2 Men) and talking with his younger Brother Quinn. The conversations varied from girls to school to whatever, but the conversations always seemed deep and full of meaning. He was a very caring older brother and example to follow.

Blake played football, basketball, and track in high school. He was the student body Vice President, and in the foreign language club, along with working, skiing, biking, baseball, and everything else that presented a challenge to him. Blake was an excellent student. He got A’s in pretty much every class that he ever took. He was an honor student in high school and on the dean’s list in college, he graduated from College with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with High Honors. If ever we had questions about anything, Blake would be able to remember what it was we wanted to know, and if he hadn’t come across it before, he would have it figured out pretty quick.

Blake usually had some random trivia. He told CaTrena that when he was doing the windshield job in Arizona, he had so much drive time he figured out the square miles each resident of Wyoming could own. Blake learned how to sew because he wanted to know how a sewing machine worked. It was not uncommon to find Dad and the 3 boys discussing new challenges, adventures or some random piece of knowledge like ‘the boiling point of water between Arimo and sea level’.

Blake never complained when his sisters made him open doors for them and he never left them in the car either! He always did it. He was always kind and watched over others.

There are many stories from camping trips, snowmobile rides, sledding adventures, trips to lake Powell, water skiing behind an actual ski boat, and water skiing down the canal behind a pickup truck, tubing, hiking, and working from his early days.

Blake graduated from High School in 1996. In the summer of ‘96 Blake and I helped our father build an addition to the Bennett’s home in Virginia. On one fateful hot day when we were digging trenches a pretty young woman shows up and started talking to us from the other side of the foundation. Since both of us were pretty much terrified of girls at the time, we returned the greeting with a series of grunts, hand gestures and incoherent words, and just stood there until she left and went into the house. After all first impressions are the most important… Later we found that girl to be the sister of D’Lyn, Dayna Moser, and she would be staying the summer to help with the Bennett kids while the house was being remodeled. Not long after that, the breaks that Blake took began to be longer and longer. Some days we would show up at the job in the morning and we wouldn’t even see him till the next day. Depending on who is telling the story he either turned completely useless on the job or he was the only one that showed up to the job. At night, at our house, he would take the cordless phone and go hide and call Dayna. I often times would to hide the phone before he could get to it and watch the panic build. When Blake and Dayna were occupied, Quinn would try to drive the red manual car that they had.

Blake’s dedication and love for Dayna only grew stronger from that summer on.

When Blake was working on the roof of the Bennett’s house Ashley, Blakes niece, was handing Blake nails as he was nailing down the shingles. They got out of sink and Blake hit Ashley right in the head with the hammer. He felt terrible but he gave her a bump to remember him by that she still has this day.

Blake served a Spanish speaking mission to the Peru Lima East Mission, he left in March of 1997. He returned in the spring of 1999 and shortly after he returned, he married his sweet heart Dayna Moser on June 12th, 1999 in the Logan Utah Temple.

After getting married Blake and Dayna lived in Pocatello, Utah, Gilbert, Arimo, and most recently Soda Springs with a few other places scattered in between. He was always very generous to those that crossed his path and his home was always open to anybody that needed a home to stay in.

Brooke and her family lived with Blake and Dayna for a little while in Phoenix. They got her a sweet mtn bike and when the days would cool off Blake would go for a jog and Brooke would ride along side of him, it inevitably turned into a race and he would sprint past her without breaking a sweat. One summer at the Moser family reunion, they were all sitting under to canopies to escape the sun. Before too long, a storm came in and it was a complete downpour. While everyone headed into campers to get out of the rain, Blake stayed outside and laughed with Brooke about how the canopy was dipping because of the weight of the rain. Blake was always there for Brooke. He was her dad when her dad wasn’t there. If ever she had a problem, a question about a house or just some advice, she always turned to him. He always knew the right thing to say and was the most genuine person.

When Ashley brought Madison to Gilbert to meet Blake for the first time, she put the car seat on the front porch and hid behind the car. When Blake answered the door, he grabbed the car seat and took it inside, like he was so excited to take in another baby. When Ashley came out from behind the car Blake laughed and said he knew it was her child all along.

Blake was the go-to priesthood holder for D’Lyn and her kids. He did baptisms, confirmations, priesthood ordinations and numerous priesthood blessings for all of the kids in his life not just his own.

Blake was blessed with 6 children, KoBee, KamRee, GraCee, SoPhee, DeNee, and KrozLee. The teachings and influence that he had on them will not be forgotten and can be seen in their talents, mannerisms and gifts.

Blake and DeNee had an ongoing discussion about what will happen in a trillion years, Blake argued that the planets would be iron and DeNee argued the planets would be carbon. The other members in the family would make fun of them for being nerds, not wanting to join in the debate.

Blake was always giving his time to the kids in his life. Blake built a BMX bike trail for Brian, Braden and KoBee, it was a pretty cool track and those boys had a great time riding on it.

He loved to give his kids ‘Patience Tests’. When SoPhee needed one he would start dancing, singing, making loud noises, poking and everything else that he could do to bug her. The whole house soon became aware of what was happening. It was always good for a laugh in the end.

One day KoBee got a sliver in his foot and while Dayna was pulling it out, KoBee was crying for the pain. To get Kobee’s mind off of the sliver Blake put a big red bowl on his head and grabbed a spatula and a spoon and was putting on a rock star performance in the kitchen.

Blake and KamRee were partners in crime. When they weren’t battling each other with dumb jokes they joined forces to tease the other kids through song, dance or just silly banter that Dayna wouldn’t approve of.

Blakes favorite animal was a hummingbird. In recent years he’d started feeding them outside their door. he like to sit and watch them making sure to stay quiet sot they didn’t fly away. You could often look out the front window to see him watching them. The local hummingbirds never went hungry, he sure did love them.

Cooking was one of the many talents that Blake had. His deep-fried turkeys will be missed. Blake worked in the mines near Soda Springs after he graduated from College. We had many discussions about the projects we were working on, what was working and how we could make things better.

Sledding at Christmas time was always a great time. When Blake, Dayna and the kids showed up, the level of chaos usually kicked up a few notches. We would see who could get their kids to go the furthest or have the best crash or the best jump. Trying to herd the kids, separate the clothes and load up at the end of the day was always a bit of a challenge, but a memory to be cherished.

One time Blake took a pile of kids to the fair. Each of them had $5 and he let them buy baby rabbits. He thought that to be quite funny.

Blakes favorite colors were Red and Blue. He loved the country that we live in. Blake had a great smile, a twinkle in his eye and his hands in his pockets. Often times that twinkle was most evident when he was planning some trouble or some kind of mischief. The hugs that he gave were huge and full of love. He was a very genuine man, a great example to all those that got to know him.

Blake went on his last great adventure on November 23rd, 2021 after battling the effects of Covid and the complications that come along with it. Thus, ending the adventure of this mortal life and beginning the adventures that come in the next life.

President Russell M. Nelson has said: “We mourn for those loved and lost. Mourning is one of the deepest expressions of pure love… We can’t fully appreciate joyful reunions later without tearful separations now. The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life.”

Blake we love you. You will be greatly missed…

Morgan Kent