April 30, 2026

Linn County News

Published May 4, 2026

James (Jim) Joseph Dent, 81, of Walnut, passed away on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at Prairie Mission Retirement Village at St. Paul.

He was born on Jan. 25, 1945, in Walnut to Mary Jo (Reeves) and Joseph Dent. He graduated in the class of 1963 from Saint Patrick’s High School in Walnut, Kan. 

Jim grew up on the family farm where he lived all his life.  He spent many years as a truck driver, working for Hardwood Products in St. Paul and WSKT/Old Dominion in Parsons. He was a farmer by trade, gardener, and good friend by fault. He had an infectious grin and an unforgettable laugh. On Nov. 15, 1968, he married Pam Carter. They had five children (and later divorced).

On Feb. 14, 2009, he married Natalie (Beard) Reissig, she survives of the home. 

Jim loved his wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Jim was a good friend to many and loved to garden and can vegetables, which he shared with everyone. He was well known for his pickled beets.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents; one granddaughter, Citori Lynn Dent; and son Dustin Reissig.

Survivors include his wife, Natalie; children Rob (Melinda) Dent, Julie (Aaron) Burd, Lynn Carter, Kate Dent and Chris (Amanda) Dent and Tonya Wiles; grandchildren: Justice, Turner and Sydney Dent, Nicholas (Hailee) Bradshaw, Jack, Ella, and Alec (Tasha) Burd, Easton and Ava Dent, and Carter and Aiden Wiles; and two great-granddaughters Logan Bradshaw and Baylor Dent; siblings Karen (Lou) O’Brien, Jack (Mary Jane) Dent, Joni (Lynn) Fields and Ted (Reva) Dent.

Funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, May 2, 2026 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Walnut with Fr. Matthew Davied as Celebrant.

Family and friends will be received at 9:30 a.m. and the Rosary will be prayed at 10 a.m. Saturday prior to the Mass. Private family inurnment will be at a later date in the Lakeview Cemetery south of Erie. Memorials are suggested to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and Prairie Mission Retirement Village and these may be left at the Mass or the Carson-Wall Funeral Home, PO Box 272, St. Paul, Kan. 66771.