Barbourville, Ky. – Mr. Clyde Leeman Trent, Sr., 76, of Woollum, Kentucky, passed away January 23, 2022, 55 years after he lost his father on this same date in 1967. Clyde was the son of Charlotta “Lottie” Brock Trent and Toleman Trent, born to them on March 20, 1945.
Clyde was born and raised in Trace Branch, Knox County, Kentucky surrounded by the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. He attended Trace Branch School, Knox Central High School and Purdue University. Clyde was blessed to have met Ms. Janice Potter Trent at an area Tent Revival and this chance meeting led to their marriage on November 15, 1963. The newlyweds soon left Kentucky settling down to start a family in Lafayette, Indiana where there was greater employment opportunities. Clyde was competitive and hardworking with a strong desire to provide for his family. He took pride in doing his very best in all his endeavors. Clyde moved his family from Indiana to the greater Dayton, Ohio area, Huber Heights, to pursue a welding job. It was his fascination with airplanes that led him to a 25-year career as a successful aircraft welder and supervisor. Clyde worked on several exciting welding projects including, the Wright B. Flyer in Dayton, Ohio, Airforce One, and the P-38 Glacier Girl restoration project in Middlesboro, Kentucky.
In 1993, Clyde and Janice returned to Barbourville, Kentucky to live. Upon coming home, Clyde started a second career in law enforcement which spanned 20 years. He first worked as a Chief Deputy Jailer and later as a member, and volunteer, of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department. Just as he was to his family and friends, Clyde was devoted to his community. He attended Locust Grove Baptist Church and through his role with the Knox County Sheriff’s Department, he was an escort for many years leading hundreds of funerals of his fellow community members with dignity to their final resting place.
Clyde was a devoted and loving husband and father, raising four cherished children with his wife Janice. Always leading by example, he taught his children well, including to always treat everyone with respect, emphasizing that everyone is someone’s child. He encouraged his children to be adventurous and to have fun. Son Merle still smiles when he thinks about traveling home from Georgia after a summer vacation and popping a tent at a campsite for an overnight rest. As luck would have it, a rainstorm set in flooding the tent with water leading to everyone retreating to the family van to stay dry. Clyde was also incredibility thoughtful. His daughter Teresa shared a story of the family being on a road trip from Ohio to Kentucky when she was in the fifth grade. While making a pit stop at Black’s Barn, she fell in love with a stuffed dog which she sadly had to leave behind. Upon returning home from the trip, her dad unloaded the car, approaching her with a brown paper bag. Inside the bag was the stuffed dog she had fallen in love with. This, a gift for her birthday, brought her many tears of joy. The stuffed dog named Brownie, now weathered and torn, remains with Teresa today. For Clyde, nothing topped spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren. Becoming grandparents was one of Clyde’s, and Janice’s, greatest joys in life.
Clyde was multifaceted and talented, enjoying many interests outside or work. He was an Old West and Western movie enthusiast, fond of everything western including western clothing and landscape. John Wayne, of course, was one of his favorite actors. He was also a huge fan of the Purdue Boilermakers football and basketball teams and enjoyed watching their games. While living in Indiana, Clyde played football for the Lafayette Generals football team. Clyde also enjoyed drawing and painting. He painted many signs around Knox County, including signs used at several rural post offices. But Clyde’s real passion was music. He was an accomplished musician and could often be heard singing and yodeling wherever he went. He loved to play the acoustic guitar and to sing old country, and gospel songs by the greats – George Jones, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, and Marty Robbins to name a few. His favorite musician to cover though was Elvis Presley and he became quite good at impersonating him. Music was more than a casual hobby to Clyde. He performed live at the Daniel Boone Festival, participated in, and won several singing competitions in Nashville, Tennessee, and, in the 1970s, recorded 6 songs at the Lundy Recording Studio under the Viola record label. Clyde made sure to bestow his love of music to his children and grandchildren, teaching many of them to sing or play a musical instrument. Clyde’s daughter Penny remembers her father teaching her to sing when she was just 2 years old. By the time Penny was 10 years old she could play the tambourine, bass guitar, and spoons.
Clyde will forever be remembered by his family and friends as a friendly, caring, and gentle person who sought to live a peaceful life and to be of service to others in need. You can rest assured you were well liked or loved by Clyde if he ever imparted his knowledge, wisdom, or humor on you. Clyde’s beloved friend Linda Overbay Mills shared that while watching 5 People You Meet in Heaven, he commented that the first person he would want to meet would be Jesus, and the second, his wife Janice, whom he bestowed the term of endearment “Tweetsy Mouse”, so that he could tell her he made it to Heaven.
In addition to his parents Charlotta “Lottie” Brock Trent and Toleman Trent, Clyde was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 41 years Janice Potter Trent; his mother-in-law Ellen Smith Potter (Callebs/Combs); his father-in-law Need Potter, Sr.; brothers Marshall (MD), Roy, Tolman (Jr), Franklin (FG), and Paul; sisters Maude, Gladys (Lizzie), Pollyann (Cordie), Laura (Laurie), Marie, Betty, and Nanny (Joyce); brothers-in-law Frank Soucie (Lizzie), Eugene Robinson (Cordie), Ross Dyke (Laurie), Fred Mills (Marie), Jack Jones (Joyce), Chuck Gilbert (Joyce), Reed Relford (Maude), Warren Dennler (Maude), and Vernon Combs; sisters-in-law Bertha Cobb (MD), Ruth Hatfield (Roy), and Ruth Cole (Tolman Jr); grandson, Daniel P. McKitrick; and treasured pets Rin Tin Tin (Rinnie), Bullet, Brutus, Duke, and Ranger.
Left behind to mourn his passing is: daughter Penny Trent Norman (Sam) of Barbourville, Kentucky; daughter Teresa Trent Brumbaugh (Todd) of Covington, Ohio; son Clyde “CJ” L. Trent, Jr. (Shannon Eastridge) of Little Poplar Creek, Kentucky; son Merle K. Trent (Jennifer Couchman) of Lebanon, Indiana; brothers-in-laws Lenvil Callebs (Ellen), Leon Potter (Shirley), Need Potter, Jr., and Roy Dean Warren (Betty); sisters-in-law Norma Potter Hamilton (Jimmy), Mary Ann Robinson (FG & MD); seventeen grandchildren: Brandon Folen, Blake Folen (Melissa Brown), Brittney Folen, Sami Norman, Amanda McKitrick, Nathan McKitrick, Tabitha McKitrick, Mitchell Trent, Reagan Trent, Rachel Trent, Cait Elsey (Jonathan), Shawn Trent, Danielle Trent, Kyle Brumbaugh, Josh Brumbaugh (Kayleen), Austin Jenkins, and Irene Jenkins; eight great grandchildren: Nathan Trent Allen, XY Folen, Ember Elsey, Dexter Brumbaugh, Ellianna Brumbaugh, Riley Brumbaugh, Courtney Wright, and Sebastian Wright; a host of loving nieces and nephews; special friends Richard Vester, Reed Murphy, Frank Disney, Linda Overbay Mills; and the McDonald’s breakfast crew Sam Lawson, Dennis Jackson, Thomas Fuson, Doyle Abner, Donnie Lawson.
The Trent Family will receive friends at Hopper Funeral Home on Saturday, January 29, 2022, from 3:00 PM until 7:00 PM and on Sunday, January 30, 2022, from 12:00 PM until the funeral hour of 2:00 PM. The Reverend Josh Smith will officiate with assistance from Reverend David Barnard, and Pastor Mann Cobb. Musical tributes will be recordings of Mr. Trent singing and Mr. Trent’s daughter Penny leading the congregation in singing Amazing Grace. Additionally, anyone wishing to share a special remembrance of Clyde is welcome to do so at the service. Interment will immediately follow the funeral service at the Oak Grove Cemetery at Eastridge Branch Little Poplar Creek, Kentucky. Pallbearers are Brandon Folen, Blake Folen, Mitchell Trent, Shawn Trent, Nathan McKitrick, Sami Norman, Merle Trent, CJ Trent, Jr., XY Folen, and Reagan Trent. Honorary Pallbearers are employees of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and McDonald’s Breakfast Crew.
In lieu of flowers, the Trent Family would be grateful for contributions to help cover expenses. For those wishing to donate, checks should be made payable to Hopper Funeral Home and mailed to 302 North Broadway, Barbourville, Kentucky 40906. Please notate in the memo: Clyde L. Trent, Sr. A list of all donations received will be recorded and given to the family.
The Hopper Family, Victoria Hopper and Sally Hopper, our Directors, Mrs. Bonita Bingham Creech and Mr. Robin Reese, and our staff express sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Clyde Leeman Trent, Sr.
Hopper Funeral Home, Inc., established over 100 years ago, is in charge of servicing all arrangements for Mr. Clyde Leeman Trent,
