10-4 Magazine January 2025

10-4 Magazine / January 2025 13 interior of the cab and sleeper redone by a local guy named Carlos Ruelas. Using pleated black leather with purple thread, Carlos also stitched purple KW logos on each cab door, on each sleeper door, and a big one on the back wall of the sleeper. The interior also features a wood steering wheel, its original steering column, a mostly stock dash with upgraded and polished gauges, and a simple black rubber floor (Kent wanted it to be practical and easy to clean). But this trip to Indiana did not go as planned. Stopping in Joplin, MO along the way to have the wheels on his truck polished for the show, Kent and his son Trader, who was just a little kid at the time, were in Joplin when it was hit by an EF5 tornado that devastated the city with a trail of destruction that went 21 miles long and up to one mile wide. Kent said the wind was blowing so hard that the rain was coming in every nook and cranny of the truck and the water was running out the bottom of the doors. Needless to say, the truck’s wheels did not get polished. In fact, they couldn’t even get out of town for three days. They did finally make it to the ATHS show in South Bend, IN, but little Trader told his dad that he would never go to Missouri again! Meeting his wife Jonetta at a church dance, the two dated off and on for about seven years before getting married in January 1989. Almost 36 years later, the couple has four kids – three sons, Tyler (34), Jordan (32), and Trader (22), and a daughter named Payton (20). All of the boys grew up in the truck shop, and Tyler has done some trucking with his dad, as well. Kent also has three grandkids from Tyler – two girls and a boy. Kent doesn’t have time for too many hobbies, but he does like to get out for a little “wind therapy” every Saturday on his 2021 Indian motorcycle, and he does have a large collection of restored Schwinn bicycles. With about 46 of them hanging from the rafters in his garage, the oldest one is from 1932, but most are from the 1960s and 1970s. Having lived in Gilber t, AZ since 2000, when they moved there it was all citrus groves. Now,