One of the most well-liked distributor salesmen ever to grace the coin machine industry died the evening of Feb. 25 when Betson/Specialty’s Kent Larsen succumbed to prostate cancer. Kent was at home with family when he passed on, after battling the same disease that took his brother Stan some years ago when the two of them worked at Struve Distributing in Salt Lake City. (He’s pictured with Ingrid Milkes during the 2015 Bowl Expo.)
According to Specialty GM Mike McWilliams, Kent worked his familiar Utah-based territory phoning and calling on operator-customers right up until December even though he’d been diagnosed almost two years ago. “As anyone who ever knew Kent Larsen was aware, he was a truly consummate gentleman with an extremely loyal base of customers,” Mike advised. “He will be sorely missed here and by all who knew him.”
Kent is survived by his wife Pam (herself the daughter of the late Pres Struve), sons Trevor, Todd, Tyson and Tait, their wives, and a good assortment of grandchildren. Said Tyson when we called: “He died with lots of loving arms around him. He suffers no longer. We are grateful for the calls of sympathy we’ve been getting. It means a lot.” A viewing will take place Sunday evening in Salt Lake City with funeral following on Monday. . .giving time to attend to those friends and customers who were attending the Expo in Las Vegas.
RePlay will report more as we learn more details from family.