BETHESDA, MD—Diane Chapman Kent passed away surrounded by family in Bethesda, Md., on April 5, 2022.
She was born July 1, 1942. She and her older brother, Donald, enjoyed life on Stratford Road in the heart of Bethesda, attending BCC High School and garnering a lifelong love of the area.
When it came time for college though, her deep Georgia roots drew her to Emory University, where she found herself very much at home. Her beauty gained her the titles of Freshman Class Queen and Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, but it was in music that she found her joy. A member of Alpha Chi Omega and a member of the University Chorus, as well as quartets, small groups and really anyone that was willing to let her find a harmony, ringing a chord became a lifelong passion. She did some studying in between and graduated Emory in 1964 with a bachelor’s in sociology.
She married a fellow Emory graduate, Dr. Kenneth Kent, in 1969 and they had two children, Mark and Laura. In their home on Marcliff Road in Rockville, Md., she found her greatest talent and joy—being a mother.
Though a divorce from Dr. Kent in 1984 changed her plans, she poured her energy into raising her kids, working hard to make sure that they had the benefit of her love and creativity and sense of adventure. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to give them the sense of possibilities she saw around every corner. Striking off one summer in a ‘73 Dodge motorhome and two kids under 12, she showed them the country from one end to the other and taught them that stubbornness and ingenuity will always win the day.
To feed her other passion, she started singing Barbershop with the Metro Larks, a Sweet Adeline chorus, then the Heart of Maryland, and met friends and chords that gave her joy for decades.
Diane married Gerald Cann in 1993 and found a partner for the rest of her life. They moved to a farmhouse they renovated in Wicomico Church and shared in their mutual love of sailing, golden retrievers, and life in the country.
Diane is survived by Gerald Cann; his sons, David, Dana and Jeffery Cann; her children, Laura Gordon and Mark Kent, his wife, Dr. Carolyn Lex, and their three children Catherine Elizabeth Kent, Maisie Diane Kent and Laura Grace Kent.
