George Clarence "Shorty" Kent

GEORGE CLARENCE "SHORTY" KENT
ITHACA - George Clarence "Shorty" Kent passed away peacefully at Kendal at Ithaca on September 19, 2008 at the age of 98. He was a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Plant Pathology at Cornell University and a Rhodes Scholar.
Born in Keene, NH on July 28, 1910 to Harry L. and Ursula D. Kent, he was raised in his parents' native state of Kansas, in Manhattan and in Hays, and in New Mexico, where his father was President of New Mexico A&M near Las Cruces and Mesilla Park. The education and values he received from his parents and from life in the mid- and southwest provided him with a capacity for independent thinking, a strong work ethic, and an unwavering sense of fairness, attributes he displayed throughout his life.
He studied at New Mexico A&M for three years and then, as a Rhodes Scholar, in England at Oxford where he earned a BA with a First (High Honors) in Botany in 1933. He excelled not only in academics, but also in sports, playing quarterback in football at New Mexico A&M and on the rugby and cricket teams of Wadham College, Oxford. He viewed the years in Oxford and the opportunities afforded him by the Rhodes Scholarship as formative influences in his life, and he treasured memories of that period and the friends he made there.
George Kent received his PhD in 1936 from the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Iowa State College in Ames, IA. He was a faculty member of that department from January 1937 until September 1945, teaching and conducting research focused on diseases of corn and of orchard, nursery and forage crops. In 1939 he co-authored "Elements of Plant Pathology" which for many years was the basic textbook for teaching Plant Pathology throughout the country.
Regarded as one of the outstanding teachers in his field nationwide, he came to Cornell University in 1945 as a Full Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology. In addition to teaching he carried out research centered on the diseases of cereal grains. In 1950 he was appointed Head of the Department, a position he held until June 1970. Under his guidance research emphasis in the department changed from treatment of diseases to a search for their causes and prevention. For three years in the early 1960s he served concurrently as the Head of the Department of Botany at Cornell.
George Kent was the first Coordinator of Planning and Development for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell from July 1970 until his retirement in August 1975. For several years after retiring he continued to work on special projects for the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
From October 1952 until March 1954 he was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture at Los Baños. He later returned to Los Baños for short periods of work at the International Rice Research Institute. For many years he was a consultant to the United States Department of Agriculture at Beltsville, MD and the Department of the Army at Fort Detrick, MD.
He was a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society, and a member of the Botanical Society of America, the American Association of Rhodes Scholars, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, Rotary Club of Ithaca, The Society for Advancement of Research (Philippines) and served on the Board of Directors of the Aggie Alumni Association of New Mexico State University. For many years he served on screening committees for Rhodes Scholarships. In addition to articles in professional journals, he contributed to the Encyclopedia Americana, the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Random House Dictionary of the English Language.
In 1937 mutual friends introduced him to Ruth Olson, a Master's degree candidate in dietetics at the University of Iowa. When he asked her to marry him on their third date she asked "What took you so long?" They were married on July 30, 1938 in Chicago, IL, and began their married life in Ames, IA, where their three children were later born. Ruth was the love and joy of his life. She passed away in January 1997 after years of declining health during which Shorty took devoted care of her, with the help of the staffs of first Oak Hill Manor and then Taughannock House at Kendal.
George "Shorty" Kent was an upright, honest man, a realist who entertained no illusions yet faced the world in wonder and with humor. He was remarkably able to separate wheat from chaff - attending to the important and paying the inconsequential no mind. He was truly a man of quality. His easy humor, kind, gentle and undemanding ways made him well beloved and a model for his family to emulate. He gave each member of his family a feeling of being special.
Shorty's greatest source of strength, pleasure and pride came from his family. When they gathered to celebrate his 98th birthday this past July it was an occasion of joy and thanksgiving for having him with them. He rejoiced particularly in the presence of happy children, greeting them in his special way and radiating love.
He is survived by a daughter, Ann (Allan) Witztum of Beer Sheva, Israel; two sons, CAPT George A. (Mary Louise Hoffman) Kent, USN (Ret) of Cambridge, MA and CAPT Thomas R. (Carol Anne Ford) Kent, USN (Ret) of Norfolk, VA; one granddaughter, six grandsons, eleven great-grandchildren, and his sister. They treasure his memory with love, respect and honor.
Private services will be held by the family, who wish to express their heartfelt gratitude to the community of Kendal at Ithaca where George lived for 12 1/2 years. In the past few years, as he gradually required more assistance, he moved from his own apartment to Cascadilla House, and then to Taughannock House. The friendship of fellow residents and the support of the remarkable staff provided George with a loving, cheerful atmosphere, skilled care, and great understanding, maintaining his dignity until the end.