Marking the spot

The urn is buried behind the stone marking graves of Richard Gaylord and Elise Parrent..  Ross is standing directly on the spot where the urn in buried.  There will one day be a marker, but until then, this will be the locator for the urn.

The camera date was not accurately set.  This burial occurred the Monday, April 5, directly following Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010

Burial in Casper

Ken's son Ross, with Ross's wife Rebecca and daughter Rachel, delivered Ken's urn to the Casper Cemetery for final interment.

 The urn was sunk in the ground behind the stone marking his father and mother's grave.

Memorial Service

Memorial Services were held April 3, 2010, at

United Church of Christ‎
605 1st Road Northeast
Fairfield, MT 59436
Get Directions
(406) 467-2466

The alter was dressed modestly, with Ken's custom designed urn at the center.

 A table with a small number of mementos was displayed for the guests, including a picture of his mother Ellise, hist own baby picture, a ski lift Christmas tree ornament, a book of the exploration of the Teapot Dome, one of the landmarks of his career, and a photo album of his family and home in the early to mid 1900s.

 There is a photo of a rose, a mark of the gardening passion he shared with his mother, and a core sample from the Soap Creek field.

 His US Army honorable discharge paper and identification card were also displayed.

The guest list was also quite modest, but included several of Ken's friends from Fairfield.  Among them, his attorney and counselor Joseph C. Engle, III , and neighbor Tom McInerny, and civic leader Gordon McOmber:

Ken loved Music!

Ken lived through some of the ground breaking advances in the music recording industry, and he made the technology available to our family.  Circa 1960, he brought home a Magnavox cabinet stereo, and an RCA Victor recording of Ravel's "Bolero"  and listened to it over and over.

We all loved that stereo!  We loved the symphonic classics. We loved Harry Belefonte, Frankie Lane, and a classic ski album I cannot name, singing about the Super Skier!  I remember a particularly poignant evening replaying Peter Paul and Mary singing "Puff, the Magic Dragon" where my sister Gayle, Dad and I were all weeping about the sadness of that song, and the fact we all have to grow up.

[aside: Mary Travers died of Leukemia while Dad was recovering from chemotherapy in Montana.  When I told him that news, he mentioned that she had crossed his mind that day, and didn't understand why.  Mary fought the disease for five years.  We used that fact as a beacon of hope that he might have more time.]

We loved to sit and read the album covers while listening to the sound surround us.  The stereo stayed with some remnant of the family for more than 40 years.  It played all the 60's music, including the Beatles, the Moody Blues, Brazilian Jazz, In-a-gadda-da-vida,

It was very difficult to persuade him that a television was worth having in the house, but that stereo was never a question.

What are your musical memories?

Letter: personal history outline - addressed to "Family Ross Parrent" p 1-3

Oct 18, 99

Farafield, MT

Howdy you guys!  Well a visit is in order - I need a visit Ha!  Yeah - maybe you would find it a bit interesting why may career path was and why I made the decisions I did.  

Ken's written relationships

Ken traveled constantly during his career, whether across bad lands of Wyoming or the desert of North Africa, the tropical islands of New Guinea or the prairies and farmlands of central Montana.   He was seldom home with the family or friends that he loved.  But he provided many many writings for his experiences and feelings and advices for those friends and family.  You will find some of these writings photocopied or transcribed during the course of this Blog.

Ken Parrent, December 3, 1925 - February 25, 2010

Kenneth Gaylord Parrent ( "Ken") , age 84, of Lewistown , Montana, died on Thursday, February 25, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee, after battling aggressive Leukemia for more than six months.  Ken was born December 3rd, 1925, to Richard Gaylord "Slim" Parrent and Anna Ellise Jordon Parrent .