Harvey Kent Wakeford

Harvey Kent Wakeford, 69 of Devils Lake formerly of Osnabrock, ND passed away on Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Fargo, ND. Funeral Services for Kent will be held on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at Dovre Lutheran Church, Osnabrock, ND with Reverend Ryan Fisher officiating. Visitation will be at the church on Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. until time of service. Burial will be in the Dovre Lutheran Cemetery, Osnabrock with military honors accorded by the Osnabrock American Legion Post #164 and the North Dakota Military Funeral Honors Team. Harvey Kent, son of James Lloyd and Shirley (Thompson) Wakeford was born on October 7, 1947 at Langdon, ND. He grew up in Osnabrock, attended the Osnabrock Public School and graduated with the class of 1965. Kent enlisted in the United States Marine Corp on April 5, 1966 at Camp Pendleton, California. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and in Okinawa, Japan, proudly serving two tours of duty in The Vietnam War from 1968 to 1970. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant on February 19, 1970. After discharge he attended the North Dakota State School of Science in Wahpeton for one year. Kent returned to Osnabrock and married JoAnn Geir on October 9, 1971. They lived, worked and started their family in Osnabrock where Kent worked in construction before moving the family to Craig, Colorado in 1979. While in Colorado, Kent worked at a coal power plant and later worked for the Moffat County School System as a carpenter. In 1985, the family moved back to Osnabrock as owners and operators of the Crowbar Inn. In 1991, Kent began a career as a long haul truck driver. He would log more than a million miles and visit all of the lower 48 states in more than 10 years. He eventually started his own trucking business, KW Express that included two purple Kenworths. He reluctantly retired in 2002 due to increasing health problems. Kent continued to call Osnabrock home until 2010 when he moved to Devils Lake to be closer to family. Kent was an active member of the Osnabrock community and served on the Osnabrock City Council for many years. He was also a member of the Dovre Lutheran Church and served for many years on the Dovre Cemetery Board. He also enjoyed membership in the Knights of Pythias, VFW and American Legion, Eagles and the Elks. Kent’s carpentry and woodworking skills were his talent and will be a lasting legacy. This is what he enjoyed most, as a hobby, and a career, for much of his life. He built two of his own homes along with other building projects. He built hundreds of pieces of furniture, including kitchen cabinets and a complete set of desks and book cases for a school library in Craig, Colorado. Two of his proudest woodworking pieces are his casket as well one he crafted for his great aunt, Alice Thielbar. Kent loved fishing, too. He traveled on numerous fishing trips with his brothers and friends and was always in search of a nice Walleye or a trophy Muskie. Kent respected those with a college degree. He first attended the named endowment scholarship banquet at UND-Lake Region in 1995. His son, Andrew, was a scholarship recipient. After that, his mind was set to establish an endowment one day. Kent was impressed with how benefactors and students met each other. His endowment provides scholarships for students at Lake Region State College. Kent’s loving family include his son Andrew Wakeford and his wife Naomi, Devils Lake; daughter Sara Wakeford and her fiancé Darin Ramstad of Hatton, ND; grandchildren Ryan, Justin, Emily and Nathan Wakeford; brothers James Wakeford, Flower Mound, Texas; Ivan (Pat) Wakeford, Mead, Colorado; Richard (Marcia) Wakeford, Oelwein, Iowa and sister Karen Tharaldson, Oelwein, Iowa; several nieces and nephews and many great-neices and great nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; brother-in-law James Tharaldson and sister-in-law Marilyn Wakeford.