Kent Wiley

Kent Wiley October 3, 1939 -November 22, 2015 Sidney ""Kent"" Wiley died on November 22 after a brief illness. He was born on October 3, 1939 in St. Francis, KS. He was the only child of Walter E. Wiley and Ruth A. (Scheller) Wiley. Kent grew up east of Idalia, CO and attended Browning, Armel, and Idalia schools. After high school graduation, he attended Colorado State University and was a member of the Phi Delta fraternity. Later, he graduated from Metropolitan State College with a degree in psychology. He moved to the Denver area and was living there when his Colorado National Guard unit was activated during the Pueblo Crisis. When he was activated, he was sent to Korea where he proudly served his country. Upon his return to the United States, he began working seasonally for Colorado State Parks at Bonny Reservoir in eastern Colorado. At a Colorado State Parks employee picnic, he met Karen M. Smith and on December 16, 1972 they were married. To this union, two sons were born; Jason Todd Wiley and Craig Patrick Wiley. In 2007, he gained a daughter-in-law, Julie Gearke. Kent retired in 2004 from Colorado State Parks with over 30 years of service. He loved his job, and he loved trying to find solutions to complex problems. One of his proudest accomplishments while working with Colorado State Parks was being able to be instrumental in the development of Mueller State Park. He worked both as a Regional Manager and as a Park Manager, with his last assignment being at Chatfield Reservoir. When he retired, Audubon Society of Greater Denver requested that he become a member of their board. As a member of the Audubon board, he became involved with the development of the Audubon Nature Center and worked on the Water Reallocation Project for Chatfield Reservoir. After retiring, he kept busy with going to the gym to work out and socialize, cooking for friends and family, riding ATVs, watching Denver Bronco games, photography, and hanging out at his cabin in the mountains. Memorials may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, 1 South Nevada Ave., Suite 205, Colorado Springs, CO 80903 Services will be held at Horan & McConaty at 3101 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Lakewood, CO on Friday December 4th, 2015 at 11:00AM with burial at Ft. Logan National Cemetery. Please share your memories of Kent and condolences for his family by signing the guestbook below.