Southampton marketer Michael Kent dies at 81

Michael Alexander Kent, 81, who died in his sleep at his Southampton home on Friday, was a man who loved to sell things.

He spent 20 years in sales and marketing in South Florida, and when he and his family moved to Southampton, he switched to selling advertising for a local radio station.

Kent was creative enough to start in 1990 his own telephone directory: the blue-covered Peconic Telbook, which can still be found in most of the homes and offices on the East End.

The venture was so successful he sold it. Then he went back to selling advertising for the firm.

"I helped him draw up the legal papers," said his son Christopher of Baiting Hollow, an attorney and now chief deputy Suffolk County executive.

"When he worked for WSBH [95.3 FM], it did quite well. So well that they sold the station," Christopher Kent recalled. "He was good at that kind of thing, making things productive."

Michael Kent was also active in his community. He was a past president of the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce and its businessman of the year in 1989. He also did volunteer work for the Parrish Art Museum.

And he loved local politics. "My dad was very involved in politics, in Southampton Village and Southampton Town - and he didn't go by party. He was friendly with Vince Cannuscio [a conservative Republican] and Dennis Suskind [a sometimes liberal Democrat]," Christopher Kent said.

Michael Kent was born in Berlin, and his family immigrated to New York in 1940, then settled in Miami. He graduated from Miami Senior High in 1945, and then the Georgia Military Academy and Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. He served in the Air Force during the Korean War.

After getting out of the service, he taught English and managed the Knights of Columbus Hall in Mobile, Ala., then went on to sales and marketing for the Yellow Pages in Florida and for local radio stations.

He had been in good health until Thanksgiving, when he was involved in a car accident.

He also is survived by his wife of 58 years, Elizabeth, and seven other children, Kitty Kent and Peter Kent, both of Mount Pleasant, S.C.; Barbara Ritter of Austin, Texas; Mark Kent of Grafton, Wis.; Philip Kent of Cutchogue; and Margaret DeCristofaro and Jennifer Duque, both of Southampton, and 11 grandchildren.

Visitation will be 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. today at the Brockett Funeral Home, Southampton. Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church, Southampton, followed by interment in the church cemetery.