Fred James Dent entered in to this life on January 3, 1944 in El Dorado, Arkansas.  His parents were Mae Ola Shells and stepfather, Fred Dent. Fred’s extended family was part of the “great migration” of black people from the south to the north to the west in the 1940’s.  The family arrived in Richmond, California in July 1944 where there was work in the shipyards of Kaiser Steel. Fred was six months old and his brother Chester Talton was two years old.

Fred was reared in The Bay Area, attending Oakland Public Schools and graduating from Oakland Technical High School in 1961.  Fred found work with the U. S. Postal Service after high school. Fred soon signed up to work as a Fire Fighter with the Richmond Fire Department.  After twenty-nine years of service, Fred retired from the fire department with the rank of engineer.  He was an avid golfer and enjoyed travel.

Fred first attended St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Oakland as a young child and it remained his parish throughout his life.  He became Senior Warden during the 1970’s.

Fred James Dent’s time in this life came to an end on Saturday, February 1, 2020 in El Cerrito, California where he had resided since 1974.  He leaves to mourn his loving wife, Laraine Daye of El Cerrito, California, his brother, Chester L. Talton and sister-law, April Grayson Talton of Altadena, California, son, Kevin Dent Sr. of Sacramento, California; grandchildren, Amber Dent of Hayward, California, Kyle Dent of Sacramento, California, Kevin Dent Jr. of New Berg, Oregon, Alexandra Dent of Tampa Florida; nieces and nephews, Kathy Talton Wilson (Ray) of Monrovia, California, Linda Talton of New York City, Frederick Talton (Tamu) of DeLand, Florida and Benjamin Talton (Janai Nelson) of Brooklyn, New York; and a host of great-nieces and nephews.