Read Michael "Kent" Kent Kibler's Obituary & Leave Condolences

In memory of

Michael "Kent" Kent Kibler

Kent, OH

September 8, 1946 - February 13, 2022

Sep 8, 1946 - Feb 13, 2022

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How? How do you write an obituary for such a long and amazing life? How do you sum up someone's life with just a few words when none of them describe the depth? How do you just say "animal lover" when the reality is 75 years of learning, caring, and teaching about every animal possible? When the reality includes stories from childhood of his mother being appalled by the injured wildlife he'd bring home to nurse back health? When the reality was almost 50 years of breeding, raising, and selling exotic birds...countless sleepless nights to handfeed babies and finish mixing seed...numerous rescues and rehabilitations, not to mention the financial toll it took to continue a business decades after it stopped being profitable just because of the love for the animals? How do you look at a life full of more experiences than most will ever have and just say they were "adventurous or outgoing"? It doesn't seem like enough for a man who loved music and dancing so he learned how to line dance in his late 40s/early 50s. A man who loved the water so much that he became a scuba instructor and sailed boats competitively. A man who's been to Figi, Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Bora Bora, and more. How do you settle for saying someone is "hardworking" when you really mean he was a man who worked 1 (sometimes 2) jobs until he was 73 and regularly worked 16+ hours a day with minimal sleep? When you know he had little interest in material things but took pride in being able to get/do the things he loved so much that he didn't stop saving till he had enough? He loved corvettes so much that he paid cash for his first one as a teenager and bought several more throughout his life. He funded all his trips and enjoyed treating his loved ones to dinners, vacations, and experiences whenever he could as well. How do you simply use the adjectives "caring or generous" when the truth is, he'd literally give the shirt off his back if you truly needed it. He once gave his old work van to a customer who had fallen on hard times. He regularly allowed payment plans, advances, discounts, and even free services for customers that needed it even years after he knew he couldn't afford to do it anymore. When I asked him why he didn't lock the garages or have better security for the shop, he said "if someone really wants to steal from me, they must need it a lot more then I do". How do you label the surviving family of a man that literally made up his own family throughout his life? The doctors and everyone only knew me as his daughter but is that enough to explain a man who had absolutely no obligation to any of us but chose take on the role anyway? A man who fell in love with my mother before my 10th birthday and ended up becoming the father of 2 kids he didnt even make for the rest of his life? A man who didn't take on "easy" kids either. He took on kids that spent many years being legal delinquents. He never hesitated to deal with schools through suspensions, police through arrests, and even correction officers through jail time. He continued his love and support unconditionally and helped us get on the right track when we finally grew out of the rebellion. Even my friends growing up knew they could count on Kent. He gave us all jobs (and rides to that job before we had cars). He kept the kitchen at the shop stocked with food and snacks so we could always eat after school or before we went home when we lived on our own but could barely afford groceries. Almost all of us ended up with a bird at an insanely low price but 100% of us left with priceless knowledge do to Kent's patience and willingness to teach. How do you describe a grandfather that could of visited twice a year and sent checks for birthdays but chose to be fully involved in his grandkids lives? How do you explain a man with absolutely zero blood relation loving babies enough to become the only grandfather my kids (Jordyn, Vincent, and Isaiah) have ever known? How about a man who also embraced my daughters sister (Lexis) as his own even though she wasn't mine? Jordyn has his last name because my biological father wasn't worthy and i wanted her to have a name she could be proud of. He didn't disappoint. The girls have had him in their lives 14 years now and he's NEVER missed a single thing he was invited to. He's been to every performance at church, every grandparents day at school, every birthday/holiday and let me not forget the hundreds of trips down to the beach to let them swim and play even when no one else had the energy to go. For the couple of years my brother and his girlfriend lived with him, he took on her 2 girls as well. Baylee and Kambri still call him paw paw (a name Jordyn gave him when she was 2). My boys are only 2 and 3 so sadly they didn't have as much time with him but their bond was strong as steel. They didn't care if he wasn't physically able to do everything he used to or that he was so deaf the TV volume had to be at 100 for him to hear it. They just knew that if their was a book to read, paw paw would read it. If their was a toy that needed wound up over and over and over again, paw paw would wind it. If they wanted snuggles or desserts or pretty much anything else, paw paw would give it to them. My youngest still cries for him when I won't give him his way! During his last couple weeks at home, the boys jumped at the chance to "help". They'd adjust the bed, hold his cup, or brush his hair when he was feeling restless just because they loved him (I never asked them to or even encouraged it much). How can you label love that pure? I've tried to complete this obituary for a week now and simply can't figure out HOW? If anyone has that answer or better yet, would like to write Kent's obituary themselves, then feel free because I truly can't find the simplified words to describe such an incredible man and his life.

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