Willis Kent Hollingsworth 1960-2016

Kent Hollingsworth, 74, went to be with the Lord  Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016. He was born Jan. 24, 1942, in Ellisville, Miss., to Della and Coy Hollingsworth.
Mr. Hollingsworth graduated from Moselle High School in Moselle, Miss., in 1960. He attended the University of Southern Mississippi where he earned his Bachelors of Science degree in 1964. While at USM, he met the love of his life, his favorite companion and the mate to his soul, the late Shirley Hollingsworth. They married June 24, 1965.
He taught in Brevard and Escambia County Schools in Florida, and earned a Master’s degree from the University of West Florida. He moved his little family back to Mississippi to be close to family and taught, coached, and drove a school bus for Jones County Schools. He drove an 18- wheeler for a few years before moving his family to Texas. There, he taught in Houston ISD and Dallas ISD. He loved his work and helping his students; he loved to banter back and forth about all topics, most especially humorous ones.
He and Shirley retired to Wills Point in 2001. He was a devoted husband, an excellent biscuit maker (greatly annoying Shirley, who taught him to make them) a talented and creative piddler, gardener, tinkerer, and collector of things, who loved living a quiet life with Shirley near the lake. His children would say he was an exceptional teacher and keeper of the skill of redneck engineering, but always stuck to his favorite motto: If it's not broken, don't fix it.
He (daddy, grandaddy, pal) and his wit and wisdom will be enormously missed by his children and grandchildren; son, Billy and daughter-in-law Kirstin; his daughter, Cindy and son-in-law Andy; his son, Walter; grandchildren, Jordan and wife Carol, Noah, Kaitlin, Kelsea, Wyatt and Boone and his brother Wayne and his wife, Debbie.

His grandchildren loved his humor, and can easily differentiate a grandaddy tale, quote or song from a boring parent-derived one. We're grateful for the man he was, for all he taught us and for loving our mother immensely and better than anyone else ever could have. We're grateful for the fishing, the big hugs, and the summers spent gardening, shelling peas and butter beans he'd picked before heading off to a summer job. He always told his daughter, "You can't be pretty on the outside until you're pretty on the inside." He was gentle with his direction and discipline. He was a kind, loving daddy that set a wonderful example of what to expect from the men in my life. He loved me immensely, and I knew it. He adored his family almost to a fault, not willing or seemingly even capable of seeing our shortcomings. I loved, as a child, to walk in his big barefoot steps in the garden, because I knew if he'd stepped there, there was an ample path, free of rocks or thorns. He set a meek path before us, we're forever grateful to God for our earthly father.
The family would like to offer sincere gratitude and appreciation to Mrs. Jana Brightman, CNA; Ms. Tondalaya Moore, CNA; Ms. Cassandra Malone, CNA; and Ms. Bea Payten, RN, of Heart To Heart Hospice. And to Mr. Curl, Ms. Oluchi Okehi, along with the many staff members of Diversicare who cared for him, but whose names we never caught, while doing an exceptional and wonderfully kind job of caring for and watching over him, and for their care and patience with and friendship to the family.