G. Kent Armiger

G. Kent Armiger of Chestertown, MD, passed away on Wednesday, August 31, 2016, at Compass Regional Hospice in Centreville. He was 70. Born on July 24, 1946, in Silver Spring, MD, he was the son of the late Richard Donald and Bernice Nordby Armiger. Kent graduated from Bethesda Chevy Chase High School, Class of 1965, and attended The University of Maryland College Park. Summers were spent on the family farm near Chestertown with his family and his cousin, Andy, and as a boy Kent enjoyed fox hunting with Wilbur Hubbard and Brownie. He also had vivid memories of living in Jordan when his father worked for the state department in the Middle East. Kent spent a stint boxing in DC, training at the same gym as Bobbie Foster. Later, Kent left for Alaska and worked on the North Slope, with the first crews analyzing seismographic readings for the Alaska Pipeline Project. Later, he moved to Colorado and attended sound engineering school. Kent worked as a freelance sound engineer and road manager for bluegrass and rock bands. It was during this time, while managing the bluegrass band, Everybody and His Brother, that he met and later married Kate Bennett. They also performed and toured with Sleepin' Under the Stars in Colorado, and upon moving back to his family’s farm in Chestertown, they established the band Cowboy Jazz. Cowboy Jazz recorded two albums on Rounder Records and toured the country for ten years. Kent and Kate became active with ACT Community Theatre in Chestertown, where he enjoyed performing and acting, as well as doing sound. Generous, kind, and bigger than life, Kent was the host of many legendary parties on the farm. He also enjoyed gardening, playing banjo, attending concerts, baseball, and hunting and fishing on Blue Heron farm. Kent loved animals, especially his horses, his dogs Actress, Bowsuh, Banjo, Bullet, Freckles, Cody, Cooper, Daisy, Cheyenne, Cindy, Gretel, Gromit, and Woody, as well as his bird Lucy, many cats, and a family of racoons he rescued and raised. In addition to his wife, Kate Bennett, he is survived by a daughter, Erika Una Armiger of Chestertown; a nephew, Benjamin Armiger of Chestertown; two great nephews, River and Olin Armiger; three nieces, Jessie Moynihan of MA, Christine Roberts of Washington DC, and Julie Popescu of NYC; a sister, Susan Popescu of Bethesda, MD; and his cousin, Andy Thibadeau of Silver Spring. He was predeceased by a brother, Richard Donald Armiger Jr., and a daughter, Michelle Armiger. Services will be held privately. Contributions may be made to Compass Regional Hospice, 255 Comet Drive, Centreville, MD 21617.

G. Kent Armiger

July 24, 1946 - August 31, 2016