Kent Petersen

Kent Alan Petersen, 67, Olathe, passed away Friday, October 9, 2014 at St. Luke's Hospice House where he had been a patient for one day. He was transferred there from KUMed where he had been hospitalized for 11 days. Kent had battled multiple myeloma for nearly 8 years and had such a desire to beat the disease and continue living, even through such insurmountable odds. All who knew him know how he continued to fight without complaint, even through grueling stem cell transplants and myriad medical procedures. He was an inspiration to all who knew him and a mentor to so many friends and employees in business. He fought the disease with grace and dignity right to the end.

Kent was born to Dalton and Anne Petersen in Valley City, ND on July 25, 1947. Kent attended school at St. Catherine's in Valley City from first grade through high school graduation. He was a graduate of Valley City State University and attended St. Cloud in Minnesota for graduate school. During summers in college, Kent worked for the Forest Service in the Western United States, beginning with a hot-shot fire crew and advancing to become a smokejumper. His years of working with the Forest Service were some of Kent's fondest memories—the men becoming as close as brothers. He often said it was very much like a fraternity.

After graduation, Kent taught special education and coached in Sauk Center, MN. During summer breaks, he became a loss adjuster for crop hail insurance, as did many teachers during that time. Kent loved people and being of service, so it was a natural that the summer jobs with insurance later became his career path after leaving teaching. Beginning as a loss adjuster, Kent worked his way into various positions—first with Crop Hail Management (later to be acquired by Norwest Insurance and named Rural Community Insurance Services), where Kent became Operations Manager and later President of Rural Community Insurance Company, the reinsuring arm of RCIS. Kent's assignments/work bases were in Boise, ID; Mt. Horeb, WI; Kalispell, MT and Sioux Falls, SD in his 23 years with the company.

In 1997, Kent moved to Hedge Financial in Chicago, which was shortly thereafter purchased by CNA Insurance Company. When CNA sold their crop insurance division, Kent was hired to launch a new crop company, CropUSA, originally based in Idaho but in 2005 moved to the Overland Park area to establish the corporate office. CropUSA was purchased by Hudson Insurance Group in 2008. Kent remained as President of Hudson Crop Insurance Services until his retirement in September of 2013. Being in the industry for 40 years, he was presented a lifetime achievement award at the annual crop insurance convention earlier this year.

Kent was a sports fan and loved golf, football and basketball. He knew the backgrounds of each major player and loved discussing sports with anybody who would engage in those conversations with him. Kent's disease, multiple myeloma, was discovered near the end of 2006, after an especially beautiful and warm day in December when he came home from work early to play golf with his wife, Garneda. On the first tee at Shadow Glen, he swung the driver with his usual force and nearly collapsed in pain. He tried to go ahead and play the round, but gave up after 3 holes. Visiting the doctor shortly after, Kent was told that even though he had a hard swing, it should not have been enough to break ribs in a healthy person. That was when his cancer was discovered and thankfully, in an earlier stage.

Kent is survived by his wife of 24 years, Garneda Lee Petersen. Other survivors include Kent's sons Scott (Amy) of Wisconsin Rapids, WI and their children, Dalton and Sydney; Steve (Jen) of Wauwatosa, WI and children, Layla and Roman. Stepchildren are Eric Pierce (Dianna) of Trafalgar, IN and their children, Allison and Andrew; Susan Petersen of Billings, MT, and Jonathan Pierce (Leslie) and their 8-week old son, Quentin, of Overland Park, KS.

Surviving siblings are Terry (Larry) Ukestad of Jamestown, ND; Karen (Tom) Klein of Roseville, MN; Craig (Sue) of Knoxville, TN; Jean Narcisi (Rick) of Homewood, IL, and Bob (Marsha) of Knoxville, TN. Also surviving are 15 nieces and nephews.

Kent was preceded in death by his parents, Dalton Petersen in 1991 and Anne Elizabeth Brooks Petersen in 2010; his sister, Gayle Petersen Prochnow in 1997, and his firstborn nephew, Brian Prochnow in 1993.

Kent was a member of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Olathe (RezWest). The family has been blessed to have the support of the church's members and its pastors during this difficult time and with so many hospitalizations. He was so grateful for their visits, caring manner and prayers.

Kent has had a long association with the doctors at KUMed and its BMT Group. We cannot thank them enough for their kindness, expertise, and the truly caring manner in which they treated Kent through the years. Dr. Ganguly was the first we worked with there and during the stem cell transplants, it was he who worked more closely with Kent. Drs. Aljitawi and Lipe also hold special places in our hearts and are so caring, kind and involved. We would also like to thank our primary care physician, Dr. Eldwin Dunn, who first diagnosed Kent and sent us on the path to excellent care and treatment and who has followed Kent's illness through the years, being supportive both emotionally and medically.


In lieu of floral arrangements, the family suggests donations be made in Kent's memory/honor to KU Multiple Myeloma Research in care of Dr. Brea Lipe, 4350 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway Office Park, Fairway, KS 66205.