Kent Reiser Willson

WILLSON, Kent Reiser - Died Sunday, February 6, 2005 after a brief illness at his home in San Francisco. He was 82. Kent was distinguished by a wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, a lively sense of humor, and a life-long love of his adopted home, San Francisco. He is missed by all who knew him. Kent was born June 19, 1922 in the remote mining town of Bingham Canyon, Utah, where his father was chief engineer. He grew up in Seattle, WA, where he attended Roosevelt High School and the University of Washington. He majored in electrical engineering while also working as an electrical engineer at a Seattle shipyard. His studies were interrupted by WWII, where he served as a radio engineer in the Leyte Gulf and the Philippine Islands after receiving advanced training at the Naval Research Labs in Washington D.C.. After the war Kent returned to the UW and earned his BSEE in 1948. In 1951 he married the love of his life, Mary Jane Impett, beginning a 52 year marriage. They traveled widely, enjoyed the out-of-doors and lived in Seattle, Woodside, CA, Lynchberg, VA, and for the last 30 plus years in San Francisco. He and Mary Jane were proud to support many local institutions including the Symphony, SFMOMA, and the Ballet. Kent loved problem solving and extended his engineering expertise to include mechanical and systems engineering. He earned Professional Engineer certification in California, Washington, Oregon and Colorado. His work included hydroelectric and nuclear power generation systems, hospitals and naval facilities. He was particularly proud of his work with the Stanford Linear Accelerator. Kent was also a founder of the bank that became First Republic Bank where he was a director for 24 years. A few years after his retirement from the engineering profession, Kent and Mary Jane moved to The Sequoias on Cathedral Hill. There he organized many resident activities, such as symphony outings, visits to SLAC and art museums, and became a resident representative on the Sequoias board. Kent was pre-deceased by his wife Mary Jane and his brother Rockwell. He is survived by brother Becker, and nieces Wendy Willson, Danae Willson and Laurakay Louke, and nephew Wil Willson. Memorial services will be held at The Sequoias, 1400 Geary Blvd. Friday, February 11th at 1:30 pm with reception following. Donations are requested to be made to the San Francisco Parks Trust.