Pediatrician Steve Kent ran a clinic in Tofino because he loved the area and its people

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Steve (North) Kent. Father. Pediatrician. Joke teller. Avid paddler. Born May 12, 1952, in Yellowknife; died May 22, 2025, in Victoria, from cardiac arrest; aged 73.

It’s easy to get caught up in a person’s professional credentials. And Steve Kent had many such letters after his name. But his dedication as a beloved pediatrician, surpassed only by his love of family, friends and the outdoors, is his legacy.

Steve’s parents emigrated from the Czech Republic and ended up in Yellowknife. It’s where Steve was born. Being from the North was one reason for his nickname “North” (the other was a play on his dreadful sense of direction). The family moved to Winnipeg while he was in high school, and he had a career-defining spin at Dairy Queen. He also met Lise Fredette on a blind date at a local bar. Lise’s friend was Steve’s date, but 16-year-old Lise and Steve, 19, hit it off. The couple married in Winnipeg a few years later and stayed in the city while he studied medicine at the University of Manitoba. The week he died was not only his birthday, but their 50th wedding anniversary.

Steve did some further medical training abroad. Their daughter Chelsea was born in Honolulu and the couple settled in Victoria where their son Josh was born. Steve’s vocation as pediatrician was matched by his love of being the fun father. He was always the one playing on the floor at home − and even with young patients in his office.

To know Steve was to be privy to his wicked sense of humour. Patients and friends were willing to occasionally hear the same joke again because Steve’s punchlines were always perfectly timed.

And yet, his stories often had only elements of truth. Like the time he was mistaken for Jerry Springer at a Rolling Stones concert in Wembley Stadium (true) and that Mike Jagger stopped mid-song (not so true). Or that his connection to Barack Obama started during his training in Honolulu where Obama went to high school, which ultimately led to him possibly attending Obama’s inaugural backyard barbecue (even though he did not possess a ticket).

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For many years, Steve ran a bimonthly clinic in Tofino on Vancouver Island. The community’s delight at having a pediatrician was met by his absolute love of Tofino. He would proudly walk into the Tofino hospital, leather briefcase in hand, ready to see his patients. The clinics he held were interspersed with attempts at surfing, lengthy beach runs, sneaking into the Legion after hours to play a game of pool or a late-night game of Risk with locals, one of whom was in her 80s and outlasted them all. He loved showing off the area to his family and was often joined on his visits by his wife and close friends, and lately his three grandkids, Abby, Luke and Jaden. Recent trips included sharing with his grandkids his lack of surfing skills.

Steve loved the outdoors. He conquered the wilds of the West Coast Trail three times, including once with Josh, who was 11 at the time. When Chelsea was 23, they ran the Edge to Edge Marathon in Tofino together. He backcountry kayaked for almost 30 years. He and his friend Brian were often joined by family and friends for an annual paddle in the Broken Islands off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

His dedication to pediatrics never waned. He once exited his tent on Clarke Island, stethoscope in hand and surprised nearby campers with a diagnosis that their son had a severe bronchial condition. The family immediately left to get treatment. We joked he planned the diagnosis to scoop their prime campsite.

For decades, every Saturday without fail, Steve met up with Brian for a run, a coffee and to grab the Saturday Globe and Mail. Dissecting the news, especially from the U.S., led to jokes about starting a podcast but likely only being able to get one listener.

Steve died suddenly and unexpectedly, after a quiet run near his home in Victoria. A posthumous lifetime achievement award from Vancouver Island health for his dedication as a physician, the 2021 Cystic Fibrosis Canada Dr. Douglas Crozier award, his commitment to learning about new and emerging therapies and treatments for cystic fibrosis, as well as his teaching for the UBC Medical School, are just snippets of his professional legacy.

A popular saying goes that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you figure out “why.” North’s “why” was in the room on the day of his celebration of life: his family, his grandchildren, many patients and colleagues, and his dear friends.

Brian D. Young is Steve Kent’s best friend.

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Lives Lived celebrates the everyday, extraordinary, unheralded lives of Canadians who have recently passed. To learn how to share the story of a family member or friend, go to tgam.ca/livesguide.