On Veterans Day, Cheney family honors grandfather who died this year

“Hoo-pai, Shoo-pai,” the Alent family chanted the Polish phrase under their umbrellas at the grave of their grandfather Monday morning at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake.

The folk rhyme meaning “Hooray, Hooray!” was something John Gerald Alent used to sing before he died of cancer in January at age 74.

“He was always the life of the party,” his wife, Brenda Alent, chuckled tearfully. He wanted to be an actor and never got the chance, but people fondly remember him for his humorous antics.

John Alent, who was from a Polish community in Michigan, was a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served in Vietnam, Italy and Japan working in communications. After retiring with the rank of senior master sergeant in 1989, he moved to Cheney and made a second career as a physical therapist. The last 12 years of his career before retiring, he worked at Lincoln Hospital in Davenport.

The veterans cemetery opened on Memorial Day in 2010 and is available to veterans who fulfilled their minimum active-duty service requirement as long as they weren’t discharged dishonorably.

Alent’s children and grandchildren brought him flowers and an American Flag for Veterans Day.

Originally known as Armistice Day, the holiday Monday has been celebrated in America to honor those who serve since former President Woodrow Wilson introduced it in 1919 to honor those who served in WWI. It became a legal holiday in 1938, and Congress changed the name to Veterans Day in 1954 to include veterans of other wars, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

It differs from Memorial Day in that it honors living veterans, as well as those who died serving their country.

“He loved to make people laugh,” his son, Josh Alent, said. “That was his favorite thing.”