James Van Etten Bent

James Van Etten Bent, 87, of Jacksonville, Florida, died peacefully at home on January 13, 2024. He was born February 2, 1936 in Evansville, Indiana to Van Etten Bent and Elizabeth Lambert Bent. The family moved to Jacksonville in 1939. “Jimmy” attended Ortega Elementary School and graduated from The Bolles School in 1953 as Valedictorian. He then attended Princeton University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1957 with a BA in Economics. Having completed the Naval ROTC program at Princeton, Jimmy served two years as a lieutenant junior grade in the U. S. Navy with tours in the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic aboard USS Talbot County, a Landing Ship, Tank (LST).

Jimmy married the love of his life, Patricia Cummer Paul of Jacksonville, Florida, in 1958. Following his service in the Navy, he went to work with his father in 1959 at the family’s company, Florida School Book Depository, Inc. He became President in 1970 and Chairman in 1978. For over sixty years until his retirement in 2021, Jimmy worked tirelessly to grow and maintain a business that plays an integral role in supplying Florida’s schools, teachers, and students with instructional materials. He saw his employees as a second family and successfully established a culture centered around trust, honesty, service, and joy.

Like many Ivy League graduates, Jimmy dreamed of working on Wall Street. Though his career went in a different direction, he never lost his love of finance, serving on the board of directors of Barnett Bank for many years. Jimmy also sat on the board of Southeast Atlantic Corporation. He enjoyed research related to all sorts of investments and participated in many ventures over the decades. His financial advisors would attest Jimmy was one of their brightest and most eager clients.

Jimmy was committed to sharing the gifts of time and resources with his community. He and Patricia established the Bent Family Foundation in 1998 to further that commitment. A lifelong supporter of education, Jimmy was a long-tenured trustee and a chairman on the boards of the Museum of Science and History (MOSH) and The Bolles School, where he was named Trustee Emeritus in 2002. He also served as a trustee and then as a chairman of the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Foundation. Jimmy’s financial prowess gave him a deep appreciation of the value of endowments to institutions. As such, he and his family have strived to support endowment giving and over the years have established endowments at the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Foundation, The Bolles School, and the University of North Florida. Not only have his efforts benefited the community in countless ways, but they also have instilled the values of leadership, service, and generosity in his children and grandchildren, as well as in those whose lives he touched.

Jimmy was a passionate athlete and avid sports fan. He played varsity tennis at Bolles and varsity squash at Princeton and continued to play both sports for decades. He also enjoyed golfing and loved watching football, never failing to cheer on the Gators and Jaguars. Jimmy and Patricia travelled all over the world, but no place was as special to them as Linville, North Carolina, where they could sit on the deck at Treetops and let “all troubles fade away.”

Ever devoted to his family, Jimmy will be most remembered for his intense focus, piercing intelligence, fierce loyalty, innate generosity, subtle kindness, and abiding faith, as well as his love for telling story after story.

He is predeceased by his parents and is survived by his sister, Elizabeth Bent Colmery, as well as his most beloved wife of over 65 years, Patricia Paul Bent, and their three children: Patricia Bent MacRae, James Van Etten Bent, Jr., and Robert Paul Bent. He is also survived by their six grandchildren: Cary Cummer MacRae, Ann Chesnut MacRae Sharp, and James Douglas Kirkpatrick MacRae; James Lambert Bent; Barbara Taylor Bent and Robert Van Etten Bent; and four great-grandchildren: Serena MacRae Sharp, Stephen Lavator Sharp, Barbara Jane Sharp, and Ivy Katharine MacRae; as well as his nieces and nephew: Anne Colmery Brown, Virginia Colmery Parsley, Pamela DuVal Paul, Christopher Yardley Paul, and Barbara Paul Barnett.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, February 2, 2024 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 4129 Oxford Avenue, Jacksonville, Florida 32210. The family requests in lieu of flowers, memorials in Jimmy’s honor be sent to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, The Bolles School (7400 San Jose Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida 32217), or Community Hospice (4266 Sunbeam Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32257).