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Hosea Kent Elliott, 77, of Murphysboro, passed
away at 2:55am on January 22, 2012 in Murphysboro after a battle with
numerous illnesses. He was born on March 31, 1934 to the late Hosea Ross
Elliott Jr. and Jewel Clem (Tonkins) Elliott.
After graduating from Murphysboro Township High School and DeForest
Technical School, now known as DeVry, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and
spent 3 years as an instructor in the Army Security Agency at the South
Eastern Signal School in Fort Gordon Georgia. After discharge from the
Army he enrolled in S.I.U. Carbondale majoring in Math and Physics.
While attending S.I.U. he met his future wife; Donna Diane Ferguson,
Kent and Donna were united in marriage on October 5, 1957 in Corinth,
MS.; Donna preceded him in death on October 28, 2004. Upon graduation
in 1960 he went to work for IBM in their space systems program in the
Washington D.C. area. He transferred to Houston, TX., when NASA
transferred the Manned Space Project to the Johnson Spacecraft Center in
Houston. He was in charge of the Operational Readiness and Checkout
Testing for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, which included the
design, installation, and readiness testing of the worldwide tracking
network. Kent left IBM and joined Ross Perot as Ross was starting up
Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in Dallas. At EDS he was employed as a
System Programmer implementing computer-to-computer communication. Kent
next joined Ungermann-Bass Incorporated (UBI) a communication company in
Santa Clara, CA.. After a time he left UBI and returned to EDS to
assist in their LAN deployments. EDS offered early retirement, which
Kent accepted. Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in Ft. Worth, TX.,
offered Kent a job, he accepted it and worked there until his final
retirement in 2003, after which he moved back to Murphysboro. Kent was
a member of the First Christian Church in Murphysboro and was a member
of the Workers for Christ Sunday School Class at First Christian Church.
Funeral services will be at 11am on Friday, January 27, 2012 at Crawshaw
Funeral Home in Murphysboro; Rev. Rick Sutton of the First Christian
Church will officiate. Burial will be private at a later date.
Visitation will be from 9am until 11am on Friday at the funeral home.
Memorials are encouraged and may be made to the First Christian Church,
Shepherd’s Fund; memorials will be accepted at the funeral home or
church.
Kent is survived by one son and daughter-in-law; Scott and Marcia Fay
(Lewis) Elliott of Arlington, TX., one sister; Barbara Jean Muckelroy of
Murphysboro, two brothers and sisters-in-law; Dr. Albert Robert and
Margaret Ann (Bartlett) Elliott of Statesboro, GA., and Lester Wayne and
Barbara Ann (Lewis) Elliott of Columbia, MD., two grandsons; Christopher
Gaylon Elliott of San Marcos, TX., and Jacob Scott Elliott of Arlington,
TX., two granddaughters; Autumn Leigh Rawlinson and Chelsea Renee
Elliott of Arlington, TX., one great-granddaughter; Rylie Nicole
Rawlinson, and two great-grandsons; Dylan Carney and Braydon James Kent
Elliott Smith of Arlington, TX., and numerous nieces and nephews also
survive. In addition to his parents and wife, Kent was preceded in
death by one son; Gaylon Kent Elliott. |
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