Ora Etta Batien was born December 22, 1942, in Watertown, South Dakota, the daughter of Oral and Jennie (Alter) Batien. She graduated from Watertown High School in 1960. After graduation Ora moved to Thunder Hawk. She was united in marriage to Ron Kittelson and they had a son Scott. While there, she helped on the family farm and ranch.
Ora moved to Lemmon when Scott was 5 years old. On March 3, 1972 she married Ronald Kent. They made their home in Lemmon where Ora worked at Wheeler Manufacturing. While there, she also played city league softball and volleyball. Ora and Ron later moved to Billings, Montana after Scott graduated high school, where she worked as a waitress. Ora retired in 2003 and moved to Murdo to be closer to Scott.
Upon moving to Murdo, she brought her cat “Weiser”, which was on the same pedestal as her son Scott. She enjoyed and loved animals so much. She had her companion Weiser for 18 years. She always enjoyed her son's teasing, and many times he would forget to let her know he was just teasing before leaving.
On August 3, 2005, her granddaughter Kamri was born, the pride and joy of her life. Ora loved to spend as much time with Kamri as she could. In 2007 Ora started showing symptoms of COPD. She struggled with COPD until the time of her death. She never complained or showed any signs of suffering, she was a very strong lady.
Family was the most important thing to Ora. She enjoyed reading, playing cards and games, and spending time with her family. But most of all she enjoyed bowling, she even switched from right hand to left after injuring her right hand. Ora was an excellent cook which we all enjoyed.
Survivors include her son Scott Kittelson and his wife Amy of Murdo; one granddaughter Kamri Kittelson of Murdo; three brothers David (Linda) Johnson of New London, Iowa, Bill (Freda) Johnson of Auburn, Washington, and Ed Johnson of Watertown; three sisters Trudy (Dick) Mitchell-Bayne of Roseville, Iowa, Alice (Wendell) Bruns of Henry, South Dakota, and Doria (Ron) Block of Watertown; and her close friends from Billings, Montana and Lemmon, South Dakota.
Ora was preceded in death by her husband Ronald C. Kent; her parents; one brother Loren Batien; and one sister Lona Johnson.


Funeral services were held 11:00 a.m. CDT on Friday, October 30, at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Murdo, with Father Gary Oreshoski as celebrant.

Interment will be held at a later date at the Greenhill Cemetery in Lemmon.