Article by Leeanna Ellis

May 3, 2017

Enterprise 5 May 2017

Article by Leanna Ellis

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(Caption) Kent and Joyce Stork closed their Fremont floral shop, Kent’s Flowers, in September after 39 years of business. Kent, an Arlington native, died suddenly Sunday after suffering a heart attack in Henderson, Nev.

Kent Stork followed his passions.

That's what allowed the Arlington native to thrive for more than 40 years in the floral business, and later when he stepped on stage for the first time to try acting.

“When he had a passion for something, he really dug in and learned,” his sister, Janine Carlson, said Tuesday. “He would read up about it until he became an expert.”

Stork died suddenly Sunday after suffering a heart attack 10 minutes into his lead performance in “Art of Murder” at Theatre in the Valley in Henderson, Nev. Nine hours after he died, his second grandchild, a girl named Lydia, was born in the same hospital. Tuesday would have been Kent's 67th birthday.

“This was a big weekend on our calendar,” Kent's wife, Joyce Stork, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Life just changes very quickly.”

Joyce was in the audience when Kent became ill. After his character exited the stage, Stork was rushed to an area hospital. He died only a few hours later.

The Storks moved to Henderson in January to be closer to family.

“They were super excited about a second grandchild,” his sister, Kris Hallstrom, said.

In September, the Storks closed Kent's Flowers in Fremont after 39 years.

Kent, a 1968 Arlington High School graduate, began arranging flowers as a hobby. The couple competed in the Nebraska State Fair flower show while still students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Kent taught high school English in Lexington for a year before deciding against a career as an educator. Instead, he began working at a flower shop in Lincoln.

In 1974, Kent began working for Miles Fremont Greenhouse. Three years later, the couple decided to go into business for themselves. While in Lexington, the couple was given an African violet, but the plant died. Kent researched why and his interest in the plant grew.

“When I found out that I could sell them that was when I wanted to go into business and have that dual thing of growing violets and florist stuff,” Kent told the Arlington Citizen in August.

In 1977, Kent's Flowers opened at 320 W. Eagle St. in Arlington.

While creating floral arrangements for weddings, funerals and holidays, the couple also specialized in the African violets, which took them around the world. The couple traveled to Hong Kong and Russia to speak to growers about the plants.

The Storks also wrote a column for the African Violet Magazine. Those columns were later published as a book, which has since been translated into Russian.

Kent and Joyce opened a second flower shop in Fremont in 1990. They closed the Arlington location in 1992.

“I don't think people realize how hard of work that is,” Hallstrom said. “It's very stressful. You're working every holiday.”

Carlson worked a few days a week for the last couple of years in her brother's shop. She observed their “outstanding customer service.”

“They really cared about what people wanted, what their story was and tried as much as they could to gear the product to the person,” she said.

For nearly 30 years, Kent also judged the Washington County Fair flower show.

“I have judged other county fairs,” he said. “They don't hold a candle to the Washington County flower show.”

Kent first took to the stage three years ago when he auditioned for a role in the Omaha Community Playhouse production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.” Kent played the role of the superintendent.

“I had majored in speech and drama in college and you get into the florist business and it’s all-consuming and you don’t do anything else and I was just feeling like I want to do something,” he told the Citizen in 2014.

Carlson and Hallstrom remembered their older brother for his sense of humor.

“We would laugh a lot,” Carlson said. “He was witty and loved puns and the twist of the word.”

He was also a bit of a prankster. Hallstrom recalled how Kent would hide Peeps candies in different places in her house when the family would gather for Easter.

“Places I wouldn't fine until months later,” she said. “They would be as hard as a rock. I never did admit to him when I found last year's candy.”

Kent was inducted into the Arlington Education Foundation Hall of Fame in 2013.

Kent is survived by his sons, Zach (Janna) and Nathaniel; grandson, William, 3, and granddaughter, Lydia; and sisters, Janine Carlson (Stan) and Kris Hallstrom (Jeff).

Services are pending.

Posted on line 10 May 2017; Published in The Enterprise 12 May 2017

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Norman 'Kent' Stork, 66

Norman “Kent” Stork, age 66, of Henderson, Nevada, formerly of Fremont, died Sunday April 30, 2017, at St. Rose Siena Hospital in Henderson.

Kent was born May 2, 1950, in Fremont to Norman L. and Joan (Vogt) Stork. Kent was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, north of Arlington, Nebraska. He graduated from Arlington High School in 1968 as a Regent Scholar and class salutatorian. He attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, graduating in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech and English. He married Joyce Weinhold on December 29, 1970, at Faith Lutheran Church in Gering, Nebraska. He was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Henderson and was a former member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Fremont.

Kent taught for one year in Lexington Public Schools before becoming a florist. As he left, his pastor gave him an African violet. It died within two months, but it changed the course of his life. He researched and soon mastered growing and hybridizing African violets. He opened Kent’s Flowers, in October of 1977 in Arlington, specializing in African violets. In 2002, the couple began writing a column for beginning growers in the African Violet Magazine, which led to the book You Can Grow African Violets, published in 2007 by the African Violet Society of America.

In 1990, Kent opened a second store in Fremont, Nebraska, later closing the original location. The business closed in August of 2016 after 39 years of operation. In 2013, he was inducted into the Arlington Education Foundation Hall of Fame.

In preparation for retirement, Kent auditioned at the Omaha Community Playhouse in the summer of 2014 and went on to appear in a total of five Omaha productions. When the couple retired to Henderson, Nevada, he appeared in a role at the Theatre in the Valley, where he was performing when he became ill.

Kent was preceded in death by his parents. His survivors include his wife, Joyce; sons, Zachary (Janna) Stork of Henderson, and Nathaniel Stork of Weaverville, California; grandchildren, William and Lydia Stork of Henderson; sisters, Janine (Stan) Carlson and Kristen (Jeff) Hallstrom of Arlington; brothers-in-law, Frank (Mariana) Weinhold of Madison, Wisconsin, Willard (Fredella) Weinhold of Bennington, Nebraska, and Alan (Pat) Weinhold of Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

A memorial service was held at Grace Lutheran Church, 2657 Horizon Ridge Parkway, in Henderson, Nevada, on Tuesday, May 9, at 6 p.m.

A visitation will be held on Friday, May 12, 2017, from 4 to 8 p.m. with family present at Ludvigsen Mortuary, 1249 E. 23rd Street, in Fremont, Nebraska. A family service will be held at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 8951 Co Rd 9, Arlington, Nebraska, on Saturday, May 13, at 1 p.m., in conjunction with the service for Kent’s uncle, Floyd Stork, who died January 31, 2017, in California. A private burial service at St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery will follow.

Memorials are suggested for the LCMS World Missions, the Omaha Community Playhouse, or the African Violet Society of America.

Online guestbook at www.Ludvigsenmortuary.com.