STANWOOD — Holli Trent met the man who would later become her husband during a climb of Mount Baker.
What she saw in Steven Trent during that outing six years ago was a mere a glimpse of the modest, soft-spoken, inspirational rock she would come to lean on.
“He’s my hero,” Holli Trent said. “I’ve never met anyone as strong as him.”
Steven Trent spent a career in the Navy, and in civilian life, leaving such lasting impressions.
He came to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in 1990 as a recent U.S. Naval Academy graduate, hungry to learn from veteran peers.
A quarter century later, he retired as a commander and flight instructor, still exuding infectious enthusiasm about his aviation career, a venerable aircraft and a home base in Oak Harbor that are all dear to him.
Trent retired in February after 27 years of active duty and the reserves. During that time, he racked up more than 5,000 flight hours in the EA-6B Prowler, more than any pilot has logged in that aircraft in U.S. naval history.
The feat only makes the 48-year-old poke fun at himself.
“I guess I’m just an old guy,” he said.
A sheepish response is what Holli has grown to expect from a husband that she calls “a very modest guy” who projects a “quiet confidence.”
“That’s a bonus in a leadership position,” she said. “He’s definitely a commander, not a demander. He knows how to reach people. He treats people with respect, and they come through. A lot of people want to be like him.”
Steven Trent’s courageous side and positive outlook in the face of difficult circumstances have perhaps endeared him most to his wife.
Steven Trent was diagnosed with stomach cancer in December 2013 and underwent a total gastrectomy — removal of his stomach.
Although he is able to live a mostly normal, active life and still is a pilot for United Airlines, his condition ended his ability to fly in the Navy, which led to his retirement this winter.
As it turned out, the conclusion of his naval career coincided with the Navy retiring the 44-year-old EA-6B Prowler, which has been replaced by the EA-18G Growler.
Trent’s last flight in the cockpit of a Prowler was in January 2014, two days before his surgery at the University of Washington. He was placed on a medical hold while he recuperated before being medically retired last month.
“I can’t complain,” Trent said. “I think it’s gone as well as it could have gone. They caught the cancer before it spread, which is pretty key. The Navy took care of a lot of stuff I didn’t have to worry about, like how I was going to pay the bill.”
Trent has learned to cope with life without a stomach. A physical fitness buff, he initially lost about 20 pounds but has gained all but five back so far.
“It’s not as bad as what you would think,” Trent said. “The stomach acts more as a holding tank.
“What I need to do is eat smaller portions, and I just need to eat more often and watch what I eat.”
He said eating more frequently is the tricky part.
“I don’t have the ordinary instinct or hunger pangs that people get,” Trent said, “so it’s real easy for me to forget about eating.”
A prolific mountain climber, he admitted that staying in good physical condition and maintaining a positive outlook has made the ordeal go more smoothly.
And mentally, he said he was prepared better than most.
Trent knew he had a genetic predisposition for his type of stomach cancer. He’s lost three cousins, an uncle and a grandmother to the same type of cancer, and two other relatives took the pre-emptive step to have their stomachs removed because of cancer’s likelihood.
“I sort of mentally prepared for it because the docs were telling me I had a 66 percent chance of getting this cancer before the age of 55,” Trent said. “It was recommended to me by the docs to do this, but I would have had to give up flying at that point.”
He gambled by not having the pre-emptive surgery but continued with annual biopsies.
It was a big gamble, according to his wife, who is a nuclear medicine technologist at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
“He didn’t want to stop flying jets. That was his No. 1 thing in life, since he was a little boy,” she said.
All indications are that the cancer was only in his stomach.
He and his wife moved to Stanwood last year, but Trent still calls Oak Harbor home and NAS Whidbey his home base.
“I feel there will be a space missing in my life, a vacuum there of not having the military camaraderie,” Trent said. “I think that’s the thing I’ll miss the most.”
As well as missing a Prowler aircraft he grew pretty fond of over the years.
“Yeah, it was part of me. I flew it a lot,” Trent said.
“It’s an old aircraft, but it’s well-designed. It can take some damage and still keep coming back.”
Ron Newberry: 360-675-6611; rnewberry@whidbeynewsgroup.com.
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