Dear Mr. Farrell,
It was "fortuitous" good luck to meet you today, one day after the church meeting where I was charged to put this tribute into your hands. Pastor Kent was a special man, and he will be missed by those who grieve him. Who are those who grieve him? That would be just about all the congregation at Bardsdale United Methodist Church. Just because some of us didn't know him that well didn't mean that we felt less bereft at his passing.
Having said that, you can see why we think our loss is noteworthy. Now our church is special, thanks to his commitment to serving us, guiding us, and inspiring us.
Thank you for supporting all of the Fillmore churches. Sincerely, Tom Somers and Teresa Norris
Tom Somers
P.S. We are long-time subscribers to the Gazette.

A tribute for Pastor Kent Fromer
Goodbye, Pastor, and I’m glad we spent some time together
Thanks for getting me out of the house, I need to go to church
Thanks for getting me out of the house, I need to be in a house not my own
Thanks for chaperoning me in God’s house, helping me sing songs of joy, joyfulness, hope in love, hope in love eternal, Jesus himself… would be challenged to teach third grade.
Thank you for your recent thank-you note. Before I read it, I cooked up this stab at a eulogy, but therein lies the point: to see you mugged by cancer, stabbed, so to speak, is more than a bit violent. Perhaps I would feel better if I fell back upon the support of the vernacular, “Yeah, we had a good I mean great pastor at my church, but cancer took him out.”
But I ramble, due to grief, grief and old age. I’ll tell the jury
‘Twas grief and old age that caused this tribute to run on and on Finally, I can share with you, my dear ones, my sweet heart, my friendly neighbors in this wrinkle in time called Fillmore/Bardsdale, a decent effort, worthy of a bard perhaps…
Poem for Pastor
It’s possible that you loved and cared for me, like I love Los Angeles. We are both fans of L.A.; you like the Dodgers, I love the city. So you can guess I love the energy of L.A.
Sorry, where am I going? Here’s where I am going:
It’s that possibility that you cared for me sitting in the back with my wife, with my neighbor next door, Mrs. Olson,…
Speaking of her reminds me of coffee, and coffee reminds me
I’ll seldom drive by our Starbucks without thinking that you had your first date in Fillmore. Very sweet. And so I have a question today: Why do you make everything so, what is the word, EPIC? Classy? Important?
We could have been an ordinary church. But ordinary isn’t your style. The headlines SHoUT IT ouT: Fromer Slams a Homer. Epic times for Bardsdale as church mourns its classy leader.
They say the good die young. Adieu! Merci beaucoup, for warming our drought-resistant hearts, for sharing with us angelic heat.
Good night, faithful Sir. We pray in gratitude for your time with us! Go, Dodgers! and Go, Bardsdale!
Amen.