Funeral arrangements have been made for legendary Chicago radio DJ Herb Kent, the “Cool Gent” with a 70-year broadcasting career who helped launch talents including Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and Curtis Mayfield.
He died Saturday, the same day he hosted his final show on V103.
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Mr. Kent’s viewing is planned from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Robey Park Manor Funeral Home, 2510 Chicago Rd., Chicago Heights. His wake is scheduled at 9 a.m. Saturday until a 10 a.m. homegoing service at the 10,000-seat House of Hope, 752 E. 114th St., Chicago.
Chaz Ebert, widow of Chicago Sun-Times film critic and blogger Roger Ebert, described his influence this way: “His radio show — the music, his announcements about the community, politics, civil rights, and his admonishments to young people about how to behave — was so much a part of my growing up years in Chicago, that he felt like a godfather to the African-American community.”
