Gilbertson Family Support & Assistance

HEATHER FLEEK is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Ronice Gilbertson.

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At the age of just 57, retired firefighter Kent Gilbertson was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. This is a presumptive illness for his many years of being a firefighter.

An amazing life cut short, his family has to face the financial burden of the medical bills, memorial costs, and finally having to purchase a “home base” for his wife after living in a refurbished bus for the past three years.

If you ask anyone about Kent, they would more than likely speak of his strength of character, speaking of the truth, and caring more for others than himself. Everything in his life had to be functional and done right. A person’s word and handshake was all Kent ever wanted and he would never expect something for nothing.

Kent was the most loving and compassionate man. Kent had several mantras including:

Life is ahead of you, the past is history.

Open your mind, and learn everything.

Don’t be stubborn; Always be happy and positive.

Panic doesn’t do anybody any good.

After retiring in 2018 to care for his mother, in the Fall of 2019, Kent and Roni began their dream of traveling the United States and Mexico in their MCI Coach Bus that Kent converted in just 11 days. He would walk around with Tikka, his Shiba Inu retirement puppy, cup of coffee in hand, and talk to everyone in the camp ground. He loved to hear their life stories. He was forever fixing other people’s RVs, buses, cabins, and helping stranded travelers because he could. He loved boondocking with his 40 foot bus and traveling the open road. Probably because he had a vagabond heart. This love was passed on to his children, Rena and Sever, and the family will now have to face the open road without Kent. Elisabeth Kubler Ross once said “you will heal, and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you suffered. You will be whole again, but you will never be the same.” The family has lost their foundation. The man who built the life they knew from the ground up.

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