Kent Nunez

November 12, 1955 - February 10, 2022

Kent Davis Nunez, flashy dresser, entrepreneur, dance enthusiast, registered historian and world traveler, died unexpectedly on February 10, 2022, just in time to be named King of the New Orleans Box of Wine parade where he reigned posthumously.
He was a descendant of Spanish nobility Marques de Nunez, French colonial pioneer Pierre Chauvin dit Le Grand, governor of Acadia Charles de St. Etienne de La Tour y de Salazar, and American Revolutionary War artillery engineer Lt. Pierre Borel.
“The Marquis” as Kent liked to be referred to was born in Erath, Louisiana on November 12, 1955 where his family raised cattle from the Spanish colonial era until 1986. Kent attended Eaton Park Elementary where Homer’s Iliad was required reading in fourth grade, sparking his interest in recorded events, people and artifacts of the past. He graduated from Abbeville Senior High in 1973. During the 1970s and 1980s he majored first in Architecture and later in Communications at LSU in Baton Rouge, the University of Houston and Texas A&M. At that time and into the 2000’s he also raised cattle, worked for his stepfather’s oil field consulting company, was a Hollywood model and actor, hair dresser and salon owner, worked in conceptual art, was a New Orleans historical tour guide, and fundraised for New Orleans’ Bravo Ballet, Opera Ball, Symphony, Southern Rep Theatre, HHF Azucar Ball, Save our Cemeteries and Tulane Shakespeare Festival. After Hurricane Katrina he relocated from New Orleans to Lafayette to obtain his Bachelor of General Studies and later pursued a Master of Public History degree at UL Lafayette. After graduating, he seized an opportunity to co-own and establish the hair salon, All Cuts in Lafayette.
Kent’s hobbies included reading every history book he could get his hands on in almost any language, researching everyone’s family history, encouraging friends and strangers to dance to his “favorite song” which could be any song that came on the radio, restoring his historic 1800’s home, re-landscaping friends’ and family members’ yards into showcase gardens, and recalling historic facts about ANY place you happened to be visiting. He reveled in being a founding member of the New Orleans Box of Wine Krewe where he reigned in the past as King Larry VI and was the Krewe’s Flag Boy for Life.
Left with decades of colorful memories and sage advice are his siblings Troi Ann Nunez Reppart (Tom) of Germany, William Jason Massey of Lafayette, Michael Juan Nunez (Tammy) of Erath, Robin Massey LeBlanc (Chad) of Erath, Step-sister Cynthia Simon Noble of Georgia, numerous aunts, nieces, nephew, and cousins. He was revered by a myriad of friends, his business partner, employees, clients (aka his adoring fans), and of course, Webster, the neighborhood cat. He was preceded in death by his brother Shane Nunez, step-siblings Fred Simon and Jena Simon Dauphin, mother LeeOla Marie Chauvin Nunez Massey Lahasky, father Joseph Davis Warren Nunez, stepfathers William “Bill” Massey and Dr. Bernard Lahasky, stepmother Verna Boudreaux Nunez, grandparents Felicien Nunez, Marie Esmee Delcambre, Otto Marcel Chauvin and Elda Saltzman. We are confident he is presently reunited with his beloved, departed dogs Chewy, Caesar and Brutus.
The family will be holding a celebration of his life at 2 PM on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 503 West Port Street in Abbeville where Kent has requested all of his favorite songs be played, memories immortalized and bubbly liquids flow.