Margaret Kent

Margaret McGehee Kent, who was just shy of 85, passed peacefully in hospice on March 7, 2024, in the presence of her son and daughter following a stroke weeks earlier.

Margaret was born on March 13, 1939, to Henry Thomas ("H.T.") and Janie Margaret Cook McGehee in Birmingham, AL. She graduated from Ramsey High School in 1957 and attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, graduating in 1961 with a degree in English and a teacher's certificate. She was active in student government, volunteer organizations, and the campus chapter of the Chi Omega sorority, where she served in various positions, including president of her pledge class. While a freshman, Margaret met classmate Olen Thomas ("O.T.") Kent, a Russellville, AL, native and business major active in the campus chapter of the Sigma Nu fraternity, on a "blind" date (secretly arranged by O.T.), and they married as college seniors at Shades Mountain Baptist Church.

After the couple turned 28, they adopted a son, Michael. A few years later, they adopted a daughter, Karen. As O.T. pursued a career in the specialty metals industry starting out with Reynolds Aluminum Company in Dallas, Texas, Margaret enthusiastically devoted her life to being a wife, mom, and homemaker.  She was known to her family and friends as a highly engaging, social, and energetic person. An avid golfer - along with her husband and children - she also enjoyed dancing, attending exercise classes (rumor has it that she taught aerobics in the '70s), and hosting well attended dinner parties famous for lasting into the wee hours of the morning. She liked to travel, but enjoyed stays at the beach with her family most of all.

Following her husband's death in 1987, Margaret, ever the devoted mom, selflessly supported her children as they completed their educations, ultimately relocating to her hometown of Birmingham from Pittsburgh, PA. She later married Bill Thomas, a Brassfield and Gorrie employee who'd been a Ramsey High classmate of hers and, until his passing in 2015, stayed active by hosting family and friends at the house they kept together on Lake Martin in Alexander City, AL. Margaret also kept a home at Barkley Square in Hoover, AL, and, as always, managed to stay busy, attending meetings of the neighborhood gardening club - she had quite the "green thumb" and especially liked to cultivate orchids - and socializing with her many neighbors and friends.

A further source of joy in Margaret's later life was her grandsons Thomas, Matthew, and Patrick.

A genuine, old school "Steel Magnolia", Margaret was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare form of cancer of the white blood cells, after turning 80. She held it at bay and did not let the treatments or the side effects faze her in the least. Margaret will be dearly missed by her family and friends.

Margaret's beloved sister, Annie McGehee Dunnam, preceded her in death in 2004. She remained close with her nieces, Leigh Ann Locascio Story (Randy) and Laura Locascio Maloy, and their children. Her nephew, Philip Gregory "Greg" Locascio, passed in 2010.

The memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 23rd, at 11:00 AM at Currie Jefferson Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, 2701 John Hawkins Parkway, Hoover, Alabama, with visitation beginning 10:00 AM.