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Longtime columnist and family man, Kent Walton will be missed

He wrote a column called Reflections from Georgian Bay for more than 20 years for the former Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin and then for CollingwoodToday.ca
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Kent Walton died Nov. 7, 2020. He was a guest columnist in local media, penning regular reflections about life in Collingwood. Photo from Facebook

Collingwood lost some perspective this weekend. 

Kent Walton, the author of a regular newspaper column called Reflections from Georgian Bay, died Nov. 7, 2020.

Mark Walton said his father died surrounded by family in his home. 

“He left the world a better place and we are all better for having had him in our lives,” said Mark in a post on Facebook. 

Kent Walton, a retired educator, wrote a regular column for CollingwoodToday from April 2019 until March 2020. Before that, his Reflections column ran in the Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin (E-B) newspaper for more than 20 years. 

Raymond Bowe, once a reporter for the E-B and now the community editor for BarrieToday, met Walton in 2000 when Bowe was starting his career in journalism. Bowe remembers Walton visiting the E-B office. 

“In those days, it was usually still a hard-copy submission that would need to be typeset,” recalled Bowe. “So he would regularly drop into the newspaper offices in Ste. Marie Street and inevitably hang around for a bit just to chat with the staff about whatever was happening in town at the time. He was always bright and positive, and loved to talk about his grandkids.” 

Walton’s columns were often about his family. 

“Nothing put a bigger smile on his face than talking about his family,” said Bowe. “He’ll be missed.” 

Former E-B staffer and editor Jessica Owen, now a reporter with CollingwoodToday, agreed Walton and his columns will be missed. 

“I looked forward to editing Kent’s column every month,” said Owen. “It offered a slice-of-life perspective of what it was like living in South Georgian Bay and managed to make the mundane into something interesting and fresh. Kent had a talent for finding the humour in everyday life, and for that he will be greatly missed.” 

Walton wrote humorous accounts of trying to navigate traffic for appointments in Toronto, and endearing tales of Christmas traditions with his grandkids. 

In January this year, Walton’s column for CollingwoodToday was all about the love of his life: his wife Judy. 

Judy took advantage of the Leap Year tradition that “allows” a woman to propose marriage to a man by asking Kent to marry her when the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, 1960. 

“It took almost 10 seconds for me to consider my answer. Being a shy type, I answered quietly in the positive and here I am more than 60 years later still wondering what happened,” wrote Walton in his January 2020 column. “Judy and I appreciate the time we have, our family and friends. We are grateful for the many years of joy we have had and my only hope is that when she reads this little story she will be happy enough to ask me to get married again since it is a Leap Year.”

You can read all of Walton’s CollingwoodToday columns here.


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Erika Engel

About the Author: Erika Engel

Erika regularly covers all things news in Collingwood as a reporter and editor. She has 15 years of experience as a local journalist
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