Edwin Nicholas Gentry Jr. Obituary
Edwin Nicholas “Nick” Gentry, Jr.; little brother; son; father; grandfather; husband; good friend; dietitian; manager; Agua Fria Union High School Owl; M.B.A., Baker University, died on November 29, 2017 in Olathe, Kansas.
Edwin Nicholas “Nick” Gentry, Jr. was born on June 18, 1952 in Kansas City, Missouri, the younger of two children born to Edwin Nicholas Gentry, Sr. and Della M. Bond Gentry. Edwin Nicholas Gentry, Sr. was a University of Kansas alumnus, farmer, and head cattle buyer for Swift & Company. Della M. Bond Gentry was a homemaker, hosted elegant gatherings at their home in Litchfield Park, Arizona, and played golf and bridge. Nick’s sister was Nancy D. Gentry Soell of St. Charles, Missouri.
If "a man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth," then Nick’s loyalty, integrity, and good nature must have counted as evidenced by his good friends. As a teen, Nick was active in the Young Republicans and played the role of the Cowardly Lion so well that he looked like actor Bert Lahr in an Agua Fria Union High School drama class production of The Wizard of Oz. Later, he volunteered with the Lawrence, Kansas Jaycees, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and tutored students in algebra.
Nick enjoyed his college career and earned a B.B.A., University of Kansas; M.B.A., Baker University; and was working toward his M.A.Ed., Rockhurst University, when his college career ended due to disabling illness. "There is one only good, namely, knowledge. And one only evil, namely, ignorance. Ignorance is the curse of God, knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven." -The Gentry Family in America, 1676 to 1909.
Nick was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin Nicholas Gentry, Sr. (1912-Unk) and Della M. Bond Gentry (1916-2007); and sister, Nancy D. Gentry Soell (1938-2016). Family members who will remember Nick are his wife of 41 years, Cindy Gentry, of the family home in Olathe, Kansas; daughters, Emily Gentry of Roswell, New Mexico and Nichole Gentry of the family home; son, Levi Gentry of the family home; granddaughters, Jordyn Garcia and Alexandra Gentry of Roswell, New Mexico and Della Gentry of the family home.
Services were held on December 9, 2017 in Lawrence, Kansas.
