Retired Winnemucca businessman Kent W. Folgate died January 26, 2021 at Humboldt General Hospital after a lengthy illness. He was 79.
He was born June 17, 1941, in Chicago, IL to Willard and Marcia Folgate.
The family lived in Illinois until 1962 when his father was transferred by Sears, Roebuck to the Los Angeles area.
He graduated from Arcadia High in 1959 and then attended community college classes and worked as a Sears service man for two years.
He transferred to the University of Nevada, Reno in 1961, majoring in accounting.
At UNR he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Coffin & Keys, the Student Judicial Council and was the business manager of the university student newspaper, the Sagebrush.
In his junior year, he met Toddene (Toddy) Watkins and they were married June 11, 1965, the day before Kent’s graduation from UNR. Daughters Lisa and Tanya were born in 1966 and 1969, respectively, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Reno.
Kent worked for Sears in various management positions in Reno and in Hanford and Oxnard, California until 1974 when the family moved to Bishop, CA to work in Toddy’s father’s newspaper business.
There he enjoyed fishing and skiing in the High Sierra.
The Folgates returned to Nevada in 1978 after purchasing the Sears catalog franchise in Winnemucca.
Kent both managed the store and did Sears appliance repair work. In 1985, he purchased the Park Motel, later eliminating enough cabins to have a movie theater built. Park Cinemas opened in the summer of 1986 and provided a first job to many local youth.
He told them their education came first and encouraged them to bring homework with them and study during empty time on the job.
Kent was a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Lowry High School Century Club, the Winnemucca Men’s Golf Club, the Winnemucca Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and the Winnemucca Volunteer Fire Department.
He enjoyed bowling with friends on the men’s league at Spare Time Bowling Center and organized many fishing trips to Henry’s Lake, Idaho, skiing trips to Sun Valley, Idaho and hunting trips in various parts of the world with friends old and new.
After selling the movie theater in 2002, Kent and Toddy traveled and had vacation homes in Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico and on the golf course in Deming, New Mexico.
Kent is survived by his widow, Toddy, daughter Tanya (Tim) Grady, and granddaughters Madeline and Mackenzie Grady of Winnemucca; sisters Pamela Ness (Maurice, Melinda and Kevin) of Red Bluff, CA and Linda Lamar (Rudy, Bradley and Paula) of Pasadena, CA, and son-in-law Clayton Hahner of Scottsdale, Arizona.
He was preceded in death by his parents and daughter Lisa (Folgate) Hahner.
At his request, no services will be held. Memorial donations may be made to Lowry High School for the Joshua Rose Memorial Scholarship, Acct 551 c/o Andree Rose, 3289 Great Basin Avenue, Winnemucca, Nevada 89445 or to the Glover Foundation, 525 Hammill Lane, Reno, Nevada, 89511.
Kent was a man of strong convictions and always enjoyed a good discussion among friends.
He was known to many as “Father” and later as “Papa” and will be dearly missed. Thank you, Papa, for taking such good care of us for so many years.
We will cherish all the memories made with you and will do our best to stay “focused.”
