February 2, 1947 – April 11, 2026
The Cosmos spoke and the Earth answered; tundra shook under the rapture of the beast’s hoof and the sky cried for glory. The enigma of the stars gathered and, in Peekskill, New York on Groundhog’s day 1947, a baby came into being named Mallen Everitt Lent. His shadow would envelope all who loved him for the next 79 years.
For this was no regular man. This man would become a firefighter while still a teen in Montrose, New York, serve in the Airforce in South Dakota and graduate from the Culinary School of New Haven in Connecticut. He would also get to be a saucier at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, New York and a sous chef at the Bird and Bottle, also in New York. Mal also got to experience Woodstock, and was married twice.
In 1976, he moved his family to Clearwater, Florida, where he was a chef at the Innisbrook Resort. California came calling, so the family loaded up and headed west. But Independence Pass had other plans for Mal. Broken down in Aspen, he thought for sure he could get a restaurant job, but, unfortunately, no one would pay him for his skills so he found the highest paying job in the Roaring Fork Valley he could. He headed up to the coal mine. He worked for the Anschutz/Snowmass Coal Company right up until it closed, and would later work toward the reclamation of that same mine.
He and his family moved to Redstone, where he would go on to help set up the first Redstone Volunteer Fire Department and serve as fire chief. Mal and his fellow firefighters organized Redstone’s very first Fourth of July Parade. He would eventually move down to Carbondale, where he worked almost everywhere in town, including Earthworks Excavation, Main Street Spirits, the Nugget and for the Town of Carbondale, helping take care of the pool, plowing streets, mowing the grass in the parks and working at the poop plant.
His love for food never stopped and he cooked at multiple places in the Crystal Valley. He was known for his wit and loved for his humor. He could fix anything electrical or mechanical and was smart as a tack, especially about astronomy. He leaves his legacy to his children Tina, Josh and Justin, and his grandkids Evelyn, Johnnie and Michael. The flora and fauna of this realm weep the loss of their friend.