Donald Peterson Lent

Don, as he was known by friends and family, was born in 1931 and grew up in River Edge, New Jersey. He graduated from Hackensack High School and later attended Tennessee Polytechnic Institute where he graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering in 1952. He played the trumpet in high school and continued to play in college where he was a member of the marching band. He spent the majority of his career with Bechtel Corporation, which is one of the most respected engineering, procurement, construction and project management companies in the world. Don worked for Bechtel for 38 years and traveled around the United States and beyond on a variety of projects. On one of those projects early in his career, he met Mary Katherine Kidwell of Portsmouth, Ohio, fell in love and was married on October 2, 1954, at the Sciotoville Church of Christ in Ohio. They were a match made in heaven and were married for 65 years. They both loved to dance and were quite the jitterbuggers in their day and continued to enjoy music and dance into their later years. Don got into photography as a youngster, having his own dark room in his basement to develop his film. He continued taking pictures his whole life and we are so lucky to have many wonderful moments captured by him. He also loved playing cards, specifically duplicate bridge, and forged many meaningful and long term friendships through these groups. Golf, gardening, bird watching and woodworking were additional passions of his. In 1971, Don made the adventurous decision to move his family to Yorba Linda, CA, where he resided for the next 42 years, eventually landing in Paso Robles, CA, for his twilight years.

Don was preceded in death by his devoted wife, Mary Lent; his parents, William Arthur and Ruth Beaumont Lent; and his sister Phyllis Millican. He is survived by two brothers, William Lent and Robert Lent. Don is also survived by a son, Richard Arthur Lent and wife Julie, and two daughters, Deborah Suzanne Lent and Katherine Ann and husband Jerald Rodney Mozingo. In addition to their own children, Don and Mary enjoyed doting on their nine grandchildren: Patricia, Matthew, Joshua, Amanda, Ashley, Kayla, Anna, Alyssa and Austin, who will all miss him terribly, and sixteen great-grandchildren. Family was and is everything to us. Don has now transitioned to heaven to be reunited with the love of his life, Mary, and we are sure they are happy to be together again and dancing the night away.

To honor Don's memory, the family is in the process of arranging a celebration of his life and we will announce the details soon.