Donald W. Lent, Jr., loving father, husband, grandfather, brother and uncle passed away on February 8, 2019 at Mountain Valley Hospice following a long battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis. Donald is survived by his wife, Marti (Teykaerts) and her son, Frank Donato (Autum). Joyce Campoli Lima and their two children, Jennifer Ferris (Shawn) and Donald Lent III (Donna).
His Grandchildren Cody, Brittany and Madison Lent; Michael Vega, Aidan Ferris; Alannah Jo, Vincent and Gabriel Donato and a Great Grandson, Luca J. Lent. Donald will also be remembered by his two sisters, Donna Lee Thompson and Dorianne Gray (Ken). He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family.
Donald was preceded in death by his infant daughter, Lisa Marie with Joyce Campoli Lima; his father, Donald W. Lent, Sr. and mother Evelyn (Anstey) Lent. He was born in Gettysburg, PA on January 4, 1945. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1963 during the Vietnam War.
He was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and qualified “expert” in rifle. He was in the Combat Engineer/Bridge Building & Demolitions, Pioneer Division. In Stony Point, NY, he was the owner/operator of Perma-Kil Exterminating Co. until 1985 when he and his family moved to Gloversville, NY, and ran Sta-Kil Exterminating Co. until 2010 when he was forced to retire due to his diagnosis with I.P.F. Donald was a true outdoors-man, but his true passion was fishing.
As soon as he could hold a fishing rod and caught his first trout, he was “hooked”. He fished streams, lakes including Lake Ontario, the Florida Keys, Gulf of Mexico and Cape Cod off Martha’s Vineyard. He even caught a 150 lb.
Blue Marlin off the coast of Aruba. He also loved camping, snowmobiling and hunting. Donald did “grass drags” with his Artic Cat that he built and won many races with.
The other passion he had was Muscle Cars. He drag raced at many tracks including Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. He was a tough competitor and won many races, including those with his red Ford Fairlane.
When he moved to Gloversville in 1985, he started restoring his first 1969 Mustang Mach 1 (Candy Apple Red) and restored it to car show condition. The car went on to win many 1st place trophies at many car shows. Over the next 20+ years he restored another 1969 Mustang (Black) Mach 1 for his wife, Marti, a 1969 Mustang (Yellow) Mach 1 for his daughter, Jennifer and a 1968 Chevy El Camino SS for his son, Don.
Donald lived life to the fullest and touched many people along the way. He loved his family and his dog, Duke with all his heart. He will be greatly missed!
We would like to thank his doctor, Dr. Clara Shnaidman for all her care and support. Heartfelt thanks to Mountain Valley Hospice for the wonderful care, compassion and love they gave to Donald. He wanted the hospice nurses to know how much he appreciated them, especially, Donna, Aly, Nickie, Nancy, Lori, Michaela, Ashley, Barb and of course, his native American soul mate, Debbie.
A celebration of Donald’s life will be held at the Gloversville Funeral Service, 4 Second Avenue, Gloversville, NY on Saturday, March 23rd at 10am. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Mountain Valley Hospice (mvhcares.org) or the charity of your choice. Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure.
You are loved beyond words and will be missed beyond measure. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Mr. Donald W. Lent, Jr. please visit our Sympathy Store.
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