Frederick Kent

Mystic - Frederick Stillwell Kent, aged 72, of Mystic, Conn., died unexpectedly from a heart attack on Jan. 11, 2019. He was born December 22, 1946 in Passaic, N.J., to Robert Burrows Kent and Elizabeth Messler Kent.

He graduated from Rutgers University in 1968 with a BA in Sociology and earned his MBA in 1983 from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J.

He entered the Army in May, 1969, and served in the 560th MP Company during the Vietnam War from Sept. 1970 to May 1971. He was a Captain in the U.S. Army Military Police from May 1971 - Sept. 1973. Presently, he served as Vice Commander of American Legion Post 115 in Noank, Conn., and was a member since 2016.

On April 23, 1983, he was married to Virginia "Ginger" Moore Kent.

He had a long history as a telecommunications and project management consultant, working for a number of large communications companies, including Bell Labs, AT&T and Lucent Technologies for over 30 years.

Fred and his family lived in Melbourne, Australia from 1995 to 1996, when he was transferred briefly there for a remote work assignment with AT&T. He traveled to multiple countries on almost every continent during his time in the army and long career in the telecommunications agency.

Before retiring and relocating to Mystic, Conn., he lived with his family in Bridgewater, N.J. from December 1990 - August 2013.

Fred was an avid and lifelong boater of the Long Island Sound, motorcyclist, skilled handyman and car mechanic, dog lover and rescuer, political aficionado and later in life, active in local politics as a founding member of Groton's Right to Vote. He also volunteered at the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce.

He deeply loved Mystic and the surrounding area, he and his family were 11th generation Mystic area residents with long histories in Mystic, Noank and Groton Long Point.

In addition to his wife, Ginger, he is survived by his two daughters, Erin Kent and Hillary Kent Preter; sons-in-law, Thomas Bauer and Justin Preter; and sister, Barbara O'Leary and her family.

Friends and family are invited to a celebration of Fred's life at 10 a.m. on Saturday, January 19, at the Groton Long Point Casino on 44 Beach Road, Groton Long Point. The Dinoto Funeral Home, 17 Pearl Street, Historic downtown Mystic is assisting the family.