William Kent Van Tyle

Dr. William Kent Van Tyle, 82, passed away on Thursday, May 28, 2026, with his daughters, Rachel Van Tyle and Emily Chimenti (née Van Tyle), at his side. He taught at Butler University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for 43 years, alongside his wife, Jeanne Hawkins Van Tyle, who passed away in 2022.

Kent was born on February 10, 1944, in Frankfort, Indiana, to Virginia Claire and William Harold Van Tyle. He attended Butler University as an undergraduate before going on to receive his PhD in Pharmacology at The Ohio State University in 1972. He returned to Butler to teach that same year and went on to train multiple generations of physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and medical researchers over the course of his career.

Beloved by students for his reserved charm and wry sense of humor, Kent received multiple Faculty of the Year Awards, served as Associate Dean of the College, and helped develop the Medical Spanish Concentration to better serve the needs of Indiana’s Hispanic and Latino communities. He retired in 2015, the same year he and his wife established the Drs. Kent & Jeanne Van Tyle International Travel Fund to support students enrolled in the concentration’s study-abroad Spanish language immersion course.

Kent met his wife, Jeanne, at Butler in 1974, and they married in 1982. For nearly 40 years, they taught in the same building, with the same colleagues and the same students. Together they raised two daughters, Rachel and Emily, and became fixtures of the Butler Tarkington community. They enjoyed browsing antique shops, traveling (particularly to Sanibel Island, Florida), and acquiring every manner of pet for their children, including multiple dogs, cats, birds, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, and even a horse. Gifted with a green thumb, Kent spent many happy hours cultivating the garden at their home on Buckingham Drive. He had a special fondness for roses and lilies.

Kent loved antiques and old homes. He was an avid collector of Rookwood pottery and paintings by Indiana artists, and he enjoyed refinishing furniture in his spare time. An amateur genealogist, he contributed significantly to research into the history of the Van Tyle family in the United States, focusing, in particular, on the construction of Fort Van Tyle around 1770 in Greenville, New York, which still stands to this day.

Kent is survived by several cousins whom he loved like siblings; his daughters, Rachel and Emily; Rachel’s fiancé, Daniel O’Keefe; Emily’s husband, Peter Chimenti; and his one-year-old grandson, Archie Chimenti.

A Memorial Visitation will be held at Crown Hill Funeral Home Gothic Chapel, 700 W. 38th St., Indianapolis, IN 46208, on Friday, June 5, 2026, from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm, followed by a Memorial Service at 1:30 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his honor to Exodus Refugee, to Gennesaret Free Clinics, or to the Drs. Kent & Jeanne Van Tyle International Travel Fund at give.butler.edu