Kent Christopher Diamond
Kent Christopher Diamond, 54, of Redmond departed this life suddenly and unexpectedly on February 19, 2016 after collapsing on a Ka’anapali, Maui golf course. He is survived by his cherished wife, Susan, and his beloved children, Karin and Colin; his mother Diana Diamond (Booker Morey) of Palo Alto, CA; three brothers: Bruce Diamond of Mountain View, CA; Mark (Pat) Diamond of Los Altos, CA; Scott Diamond of Portland, OR; his step-mother Carol Diamond of Menlo Park, CA; his step-siblings Susan (Samuel) Levenberg of Phoenix, AZ; William (Nancy) Bulzoni of Deerfield, IL; Steven (Lisa) Bulzoni of Deerfield, IL; and Ellen (Stephan) Sochoux of Redwood City, CA; his father-in-law Earl Cowley, his sisters-in-law Jeri (Don) Prior and Pat (Dustin) Doyle, all of Redmond; and by many nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by his father, Bill Diamond, and his mother-in-law, Mary Cowley.
Kent will be remembered for his compassionate common sense, his intelligence and wit, and his engagement in the world around him. But most of all, he will be remembered for his splendid love for his family.
Kent was born in Mountain View February 13, 1962. He graduated from Gunn High School in Palo Alto. He earned a BA from the University of California at Berkeley, double-majoring in economics and computer science. (Go Bears!) He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Washington’s School of Law.
Kent worked at the Microsoft Corporation as a software engineer and manager. He worked on their operating system software in the US and Japan, and became a manager in the company. He met the love of his life, Susan, at Microsoft, and shortly after they married, they embarked on an extended adventure traversing Africa. They extended their stay to serve with the U.N. in Southern Sudan. Soon after their return, Karin was born and two years later, Colin.
Kent was devoted to his family and took care to create family time and traditions. He opened to them the beauty and the need of the world, taking them on tours of service and adventure on multiple continents. He showed them how to enjoy the world and to meet its needs.
Kent was never one to leave something broken if he could mend it. He lent his time and talents to fix broken machinery, situations, businesses and people. He and his son installed a solar lighting system to provide lights to a Kenyan school, and taught the locals how to keep it running. He provided legal advice through the Union Gospel Mission’s Open Door Legal Services. He was learning how to weld and to rehabilitate broken machinery. He tutored and coached and befriended people and left situations, things and people better than he found them.
Kent was an avid golfer. He coached elementary soccer and Bear Creek School’s high school boys’ and girls’ golf teams. He was a guide and assistant with his son’s Boy Scout Troop.
His children well launched, Kent and Sue set aside a month in Hawaii to reflect on their 25 years together and to consider their opportunities and hopes for the coming years. Kent’s last days were happy and hope-filled, with plans for continued exploration, adventure, and giving.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 5, at 3:00 p.m. at the Bear Creek School’s Commons (in the new high school building). A reception will follow on-site.
Memorial contributions may be made in Kent’s name to the Seattle Union Gospel Mission’s Open Door Legal Services, either online ,here: ugm.org – “Donate”; or sent to this address: 3800 S. Othello Street, Seattle, WA 98118.
4 Responses to “Kent Christopher Diamond”
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Sue, Karin, and Colin,
We are so very sad for the loss of Kent your husband and father. He will always be remembered in our hearts as a wonderful, kind, and loving person. I am so glad that we got to know him as Kirk’s coworker, boss and friend.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. We are so glad that you have such happy memories that will carry you through this difficult time and the days ahead. Heaven is brighter with Kent there.
With Sympathy,
Kirk and Jann Olynyk
The first time I met Kent was during my interview loop at Microsoft. Kent was my lunch time interviewer and was responsible for taking me somewhere to eat. Kent chose Red Robin close to the Microsoft campus, by Sears. If remember this correctly he ordered a burger, not being from the northwest myself I was unfamiliar with Red Robin and knew nothing of its reputation for burgers and fries. I do recall that Kent encouraged me to eat by promising to not grill me with questions during the meal. Only years later was I to discover this was a Microsoft interview tactic, ask your candidate questions so they would not be able eat! My other recollection from the interview was when we returned to Kent’s office and he opened a filing cabinet pulled out paper copes of the MicroNews and commenting how he kept every issue as he liked to thumb through them in order to recall past events at Microsoft.
For several years starting in 1990 my wife and I lived in Paris while I worked at Microsoft Europe, I recall Kent and Susan stopping by our apartment for a visit after picking up a European spec Range Rover for their upcoming trip to Africa. Kent described out how the European versions (not available) in the US were far superior for trekking across Africa. After we moved back to Bellevue in 1995 I would touch base with Kent from to time. While reflecting on this today I discovered an email from 2002 shortly after Kent and I had lunch where we discussed IR blasters, his weather station and probably his website 4740.com. Kind of a funny recollection I have from that lunch was discussing the efficacy of dishwashers, I was having an issue with one my dishwashers not doing a good job cleaning the dishes and I brought this up to Kent eager for any advice he had. I remember his response was that by the time he put the dishes in the washer they nearly clean and the dishwasher was mostly for sterilizing.
I am deeply saddened by his passing however I am grateful that our lives crossed and I could experience some of the special experience that was Kent. I am very sorry for your loss.
Bob Hildreth
Kent’s passing is still a shock to me. Although we overlapped at Microsoft for at least a few years, I never knew him there. I met him at Sahalee about 2000. I got to know him best as my son Jon’s golf coach in the Fall season of 2015. Jon hadn’t played much golf in several years, and in several inches. He’d probably grown about 1’ since he last played regularly, and showed up for golf with all new sticks and not much practice. Kent spent a lot of time getting Jon reacquainted with the game. He managed to get Jon excited about golf, and willing to practice to improve. Jon is not much of a practicer, so this was quite an accomplishment. Bending Jon’s baseball swing to golf was Kent’s biggest challenge with Jon. Kent always encouraged Jon. He was a very positive influence on his game. The other thing I noted about Kent’s coaching style was that he managed to make an essentially solitary pursuit into a team activity. Competitions during practice, stops for food and ice cream after tournaments… these made the team come together.
As part of the opening of the new Bear Creek Upper School building, Kent and I had a chance to talk about what kept him around and engaged with the school. Coaching golf, his work on the Innovation Lab, serving as a guide for the new building’s grand opening (I think that was his role, in any event he obviously delighted in showing people around the building). I told him that it looked like a lot of engagement for someone whose kids had finished at the school. Kent’s answer was thought provoking. He said, simply, that Bear Creek was the community that he wanted to be a member of, a contributor, with or without enrolled students. He said he got a lot of energy back from the school, far more than he put in. He had every intention of staying involved. My big regrets are that I didn’t get to know Kent better in the past, and that I won’t be able to fulfill my desire to know him better in the future.
Sue,
I am so sorry to hear of Kent’s death. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Karin and Colin.