- Date Of Birth: January 7, 1937
- Date Of Death: May 14, 2021
- State: Michigan
Kent Johnson passed away on May 14, 2021, at the age of 84 and will be dearly missed by all who knew him. Beloved husband of Elizabeth (Couyoumjian). Dear brother of Sharon (Paul) Burstein. Loving father of Craig (Margaret) Johnson, Darin (Denise) Johnson, Julie Winand and Kari (James) Skubik. Cherished grandfather of Grace, Lily, Isabella, Nicholas, Alexander, Mila, Josephine, Jake, Fiona and Luke.
Kent met Liz on a surreptitious blind date to the circus arranged by two of their mutual friends. It was a match made in heaven for this tall, gangly, blond-haired, blue-eyed Swede and beautiful, dark-eyed Armenian girl… and Liz’s family adopted him right from start, quite literally. Early in the relationship, he became ill one night at her parents’ house and they took him in and nursed him back to health for nearly a week. Kent and Liz married in 1964 at St. John’s Armenian Church, where he became an active member and was likely the first Swede to serve on the Parish Council.
Kent was born in Muskegon on January 7, 1937 to Einar and Virginia (Larson). Unfortunately, his father passed when Kent was just 14 years old, leaving him the man of the house with his mother and four-year-old sister Sharon. He worked hard during the subsequent years to help support his family while finishing high school, and it was during this period he took a job as a draftsman at a local architecture firm.
Kent graduated with honors from the University of Michigan College of Architecture in 1960 and later won a design competition that sent him on a six-month study tour of Europe. Upon his return he continued working with architect Glen Paulsen, one of his instructors at U of M. This was the start of an impressive design career spanning five decades, during which he went on to become the president of TMP Associates. Kent’s architectural legacy includes work on many notable buildings around Detroit, throughout the state and across the country:
• University of Michigan Cancer and Geriatrics Center, Taubman Ambulatory Care Center and the Maternal and Child Health Care Center
• Award-winning projects such as the Clinton-Macomb Main Library, Wayne State University’s Shapero Hall of Pharmacy, Luther West Science Center at Northern Michigan University, Our Shepherd Lutheran Church, the Weisberg Cancer Center and Masco’s Headquarters Building
• Northern Michigan University Superior Dome – the largest wooden dome structure in the world
• Chrysler Pavilion at the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans
Beyond architecture, Kent’s other lifelong interests included a love of trains.
