Terry Kentfield is putting away his brushes and rollers, painting a closing chapter in the history of the successful business that his grandfather, Ray Sr., began in 1910 and his father, Ray Jr., continued until his retirement in 1982.
By Rhonda Dedyne
Kentfield Painting has been a familiar name in and around the St. Johns community for over 100 years, thanks to the quality work and service provided by three generations of Kentfields.
That’s about to change.
It’s safe to say that thousands of homes and businesses have benefited from the skilled handiwork of the Kentfields – although Terry has no idea of an exact number.
“Well, it would be a lot,” he says in an understated manner. “I do know that we’ve painted for multiple generations of families and that’s rewarding. There’s satisfaction in knowing we’ve done a good job for people over the years and they appreciate it.
“That’s one thing about a business like this, if you do a good job word gets around – and if you don’t do a good job word gets around even faster.”
Obviously, the word on Kentfield Painting has been positive for more than a century, and the trio of professionals have left their mark – quite literally – on homes and businesses in the community.
“I remember a number of years ago, doing a job at a house on Church Street across from Rodney B,” Terry recalls. “I was stripping wallpaper, and on the wall behind was my grandfather’s signature with the date of 1926. It’s not unusual to find the names of paper-hangers – my dad did it and so do I – but it was just a good feeling to see my granddad’s name and know he had been there before me.”
One particular family with a very well-known name was among the multiple generations served by the Kentfield’s – Ink White.
“My grandpa, my dad and I all did work for Ink’s family, and they were just wonderful to work with,” Terry says about the newspaper publisher whose Clinton County Republican- News set the standard for excellence both locally and at statewide levels under White’s ownership from 1945-65. “His wife was very particular, but we always seemed to get whatever color she wanted right – and they always called us back, so that’s a good thing.”
Getting the color “right” at that time was a lot more challenging than today when every imaginable hue is easily accessible.
“When I first started part-time with my dad in 1958, everything was oil-based in paint and we often made our own blends of whatever color a customer wanted – it was a lengthy process,” Terry says with a wry smile about the trial-by-error method. “There were no roller covers at that time, either. We applied everything with 10-inch brushes. It was very time consuming.”
Like Terry, his dad got an early start in the painting business. Ray Jr. joined his father in 1943, working alongside Ray Sr. until his retirement in the early 1950s. Terry attended Ferris State University after graduating from Rodney W. Wilson High School in 1960, but he readily admits that college wasn’t his cup of tea – or bucket of paint.
“I went to Ferris with the idea of studying commercial art – I was terrible,” he says with a laugh, adding that a stint working at Federal Mogul after coming home from Ferris wasn’t a good fit either. He started full time with his dad in 1962, learning the trade “the hard way,” as he recalls.
“When I started painting, my job was to paint the closets, inside of the cupboards and the stairs leading to the basement. The first time I painted a basement stairs I started from the top and went down. As I got to the bottom my dad came to the top of the stairway and asked how I was going to get back up – the paint would take 24 hours to dry. It was near the end of the day, and my dad said he would see me in the morning.”
The learning experience did have a happy ending.
“A couple of hours later, dad returned with an old pair of golf shoes. I put them on and proceeded up the stairs leaving only little dimples on the treads. I never painted stair steps from top to bottom again.”
The apprentice painter went on to become a seasoned professional himself, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
“I don’t mean to brag, but my dad was one of the best painters – and probably the best paper-hanger – I’ve ever seen,” Terry says. “Although he officially retired in 1982, he worked with me right up until about eight months before he died in 1984. We were in the middle of a project at Clinton Memorial when he said he just couldn’t do it anymore – I’d have to finish for him.
“Well, I’d never actually hung paper before – I always worked the board, cutting and pasting. When I finished that room, he walked in and said, ‘You do just as good a job as I do.’ I know that wasn’t true – but it made me feel really good.”
Clinton Memorial was almost like a second home to the Kentfields.
“We probably re-did the hospital six times during the 28 years we worked there,” Terry says. “Back then, all three floors had patient rooms that we would paint and wallpaper. It was quite a job.”
Even more challenging was the painting Kentfield’s did in the 1960s and ’70s prior to open house events at Federal Mogul. The factory was cleaned, primed and painted from top to bottom in preparation for the “big event,” Terry recalls.
“Those were enormous jobs. We’d go in at 11 at night, hang canvas around an area and have it all completed before morning, and then move on to another section the next night. Dad hired 20 or more people to help – a lot were college kids who needed extra money. There are probably people still living around here who remember working on those jobs.”
Terry and his father also worked at many other local sites including finishing both original additions to Sealed Power (Mahle); a number of businesses located at the “new” Southpoint Mall; and the First Congregational Church “at least five times over the years.”
“We did the church inside and out, painting the outside using 60-foot extension ladders – but we never did do the steeple,” he says about one of the tallest points in St. Johns.
The professional painters had a hand in the residential expansion of St. Johns as well, working on “probably 200 homes” in subdivisions on what was then the perimeter of St. Johns – Hampshire Drive and elsewhere.
“We often did all the finish work like sanding and finishing hardwood floors, doing ceramic tile and linoleum flooring, sanding and finishing woodwork in addition to painting and wallpapering,” Terry says. “That’s just the way it was then.”
Somehow, in addition to all those hours spent beautifying the homes and businesses of their town, the Kentfield’s found time to be “on call” as volunteer firefighters. All three were proud members of the St. Johns Fire Department, a tradition begun by Ray Sr. who served as fire chief and retired with just over 50 years of service in 1954.
Ray Jr. was part of the SJFD for 39 years, and was also elected to the St. Johns City Commission where he served as mayor. Terry was a volunteer firefighter for 25 years.
“We all really loved being part of the fire department here,” Terry says.
A similar sentiment prevails in regard to painting and being part of a 101-year-old business. He admits it’s been difficult telling clients that he’ll be retiring.
“I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of really good people over the years, and I will miss working with my long-time customers,” he says.
Terry and his wife, Linda, have no plans to move from St. Johns, although they will spend time in the sunshine somewhere during the winter months and enjoy life at Houghton Lake every summer. There may even be a few special painting projects on the horizon – but the Kentfield Painting sign will be gone from the side of his truck.
“It’s just time to be done, but it has been fun.”