Served three terms on City Council, numerous other volunteer positions
The death of Kent Mitchell last Friday at the Russian River’s Camp Rose beach was a staggering loss to his family and closest friends and a potent tragedy for the Healdsburg community he served as mayor, coach, volunteer, worker and leader.
Since moving here with his young family in 1980, Mitchell devoted himself to his adopted community, first serving its youth as a coach, Boys’ Club leader and parks volunteer and later as an elected official, businessman and citizen-at-large. He was 71.
Mitchell’s multitude of civic contributions, public service stints and his obvious pride in Healdsburg is something recalled by all those who worked and volunteered along with him and, perhaps, an under-appreciated gift to those who discovered Healdsburg more recently.
Emergency crews were unable to resuscitate Mitchell while responding to a midmorning 911 call on July 8 after he failed to surface from the water during an outing with his three granddaughters. The official cause of death is pending and a “medical emergency” has not been ruled out.
Mitchell also leaves two grown children, Jonah and Nicole, and an extended family shared with his life partner Carla Howell with whom he shared the past three decades of first his civic, then his private life.
“He is leaving behind a huge hole in Healdsburg,” friend and civic collaborator Ted Calvert said. “He had that Healdsburg spirit — the magic (that) gets into your blood and DNA.”
Mitchell served as the city’s mayor in 1996, while serving three elected terms on the city council from 1994 to 2006.
His civic resume is a long one, including Parks and Recreation commissioner, Boys & Girls Club board president, Healdsburg Historical Society & Museum director, Healdsburg High School and Greyhounds Booster, Rotary Club of Healdsburg past president, chamber of commerce board member and more.
Along with a brigade of other newly arrived Healdsburgers in the early 1980s, Mitchell joined with more-tenured locals to modernize the Healdsburg Boys Club and the town’s playing fields. Their civic pride spread to numerous other community campaigns and work days.
The live auction benefits for the Boys Club (later Boys & Girls Club) at the Villa Chanticleer remain legendary for their $4,000 “Lunch at the Dump” and $100 chocolate-coated strawberry bid items.
Mitchell, Calvert and a crew with Bob Randolph, Norm Buchignani, Gino Bellagio, Bram Glaeser, Rick Hockert, Richard Bugarske, Mark Gleason, Kay Steinbach and many others completed a hands on remodel of a dilapidated Boys Club with minimum cash and maximum free labor. The club’s executive director Glenn Keith spent years passing around “thank yous” to Mitchell and all the “Buckeye Crew.”
A new City Hall was built and dedicated during Mitchell’s tenure as mayor, an era that also saw a new police station, library, creekside park, downtown streetscape and major school renovations take place.
Mitchell was involved with all of them. He may not have topped every civic leadership or donor list, but he certainly was an “equal among equals” that literally built the Healdsburg of today.
“He really cared about this community,” said Howell, who served with him on the city council and is now the executive director of the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce. “It weighed heavily on him when unintended consequences got in the way of well-intentioned decisions.
“I think Kent has left an imprint on Healdsburg and I hope that many will learn from his example about the importance of supporting each other, safeguarding what makes Healdsburg so special and respecting our history and traditions,” said Howell.
Mitchell was part of the council that hired Chet Wystepek as city manager in 1995, serving with Howell, Tom Chambers, Pete Foppiano and Cathy Harvey.
“Kent did a lot to make me feel welcome in Healdsburg,” Wystepek said. “He really provided a lot of leadership to the community, both at City Hall and elsewhere. Boy, what a shock.”
State Senator Mike McGuire worked with Mitchell on local school and city issues. “Kent was dedicated to town like no other. He gave back so much and Healdsburg won’t be the same without him and he’ll greatly be missed,” said McGuire, also a former city council member.
Current City Manager David Mickaelian credits Mitchell with “fighting (for Healdsburg) to maintain its character, uniqueness and family-oriented environment. This is such a sudden and tragic loss.”
Remembering moving here as a young third grader, Mitchell’s son Jonah said his dad, “jumped both feet in” to his new community. “He started with youth and coaching but he ended up doing lots of leadership positions. He always got more out of his civic pursuits than doing the ‘9-to-5’ routine,” said his son, now an attorney living in Marin.
The Mitchells moved from the Richmond District of San Francisco to an in-laws cabin on Fitch Mountain above Camp Rose. After a few “rustic years” Jonah said the family first moved to West Dry Creek Road and then to Healdsburg proper, attending public schools.
Prior to the Healdsburg move, Kent worked in the record and recording industry for RCA and A&M Records.
Seeking more open spaces, the Mitchells moved north and Kent took a job in the tasting room of the Italian Swiss Colony winery and later in sales for Redwood Petroleum.
Besides all his civic involvement, Mitchell and his wife Marisa opened the Fitch Mountain Trading Company, printing T-shirts and selling other logo apparel.
Following his three terms at City Hall, Mitchell earned his real estate license and most recently was an agent at Wine Country Group Better Homes & Gardens.
He also was a partner in Blue Nose Wines with Paul Brasset and John Green, located in the Hudson Street Wineries building on Front Street.
Mitchell’s talents were shared. He often was the volunteer cook and wine steward at benefits. He showed up early for set ups, but was always among the last to leave.
With a loving relationship that started over a mutual involvement in public service, Howell and Mitchell often considered a “date” an evening at a community fund raiser or a Rotary Club outing.
“He made me a better person. He taught me how to enjoy life,” said Howell. The couple and their blended family hiked the Sierras, took Lake Tahoe trips, bicycled around town and frequented the Camp Rose beach.
“Kent was a politician, but he was not political,” Howell said. “He was ‘old school,’ set in his ways, but amazingly open-minded.”
Mitchell is survived by his daughter Nicole Mitchell; son Jonah Mitchell; their mother, Marisa Mitchell; daughter-in-law Beth Mitchell; granddaughters Francesca, Valentina and Natalia Mitchell; grandson Reo Mitchell; sister and brother-in-law Nicki and Johnny Nikula; sister-in-law and brother-in-law Adrienne and Joel Moeller; and many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his partner Carla Howell and her children and their families.
A memorial service is planned for Friday, July 29 beginning at 11 a.m. (reception to immediately follow) at the Villa Chanticleer, 900 Chanticleer Way, Healdsburg. In lieu of flowers, direct any contributions to the “Rotary Scholarship Fund” at the Rotary Club of Healdsburg, PO Box 671, Healdsburg, CA 95448 www.healdsburgrotary.org/
