Saul Kent

Saul Kent, March 19, 1931- August 2, 2025

Saul Kent died after a period of declining health on August 2, 2025, at his daughter Victoria Kaye’s home in Broomfield, CO. He was 94 years old.

Saul was born on March 19, 1931, in Brooklyn, New York to Harry and Ida Kent (Richman). He grew up in the Williamsburg and East New York sections of Brooklyn with his younger sister, Roberta. Saul’s father worked as a truck driver, a security guard, and later as a bouncer at Roseland Dance City in midtown Manhattan. His mother worked as a pearl-stringer and as a server at a country club in Mamaroneck, NY.

Saul was a proud graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School. He attended Brooklyn College, where he received BA and MA degrees in education. In 1953, he began a long career as an educator and administrator in New York City public schools. He served as a much-loved junior high school English teacher, and later as an assistant principal and principal in elementary and junior high schools.

Through his piano teacher, Olga Fink, Saul was introduced to another of her pupils, Nancy Beth Goldman. On July 4, 1954, Saul married Nancy in Brooklyn in a ceremony conducted (at his parents’ insistence) by an Orthodox Jewish rabbi; neither Saul or Nancy were believers, and they found the ceremony…amusing. Theirs proved to be an enduring partnership shaped by family and by their shared love of books, fine art, classical music, theater and, above all, travel.

In 1958, Saul and Nancy began their journey as parents with the birth of their son Alexander, and then in 1961, with the birth of their daughter Victoria.

In 1965, Saul and Nancy left Brooklyn and moved to a Levitt & Sons housing development in Central New Jersey. They were drawn to New Jersey by the promise of more privacy, a garden, and a safe place to raise their children. Saul drew on his talents as an interior designer and skills with a sewing machine to give an otherwise featureless ranch house some character and class. In the process, he gave his son Alex ample opportunities to develop his interest in carpentry and DIY projects.

Saul supported Nancy as she pursued undergraduate and graduate degrees at Goddard College’s new adult degree program. Nancy ultimately became a junior high school English teacher at schools in Manhattan. In the 1970s, both Saul and Nancy were assigned to schools in Staten Island. Saul ended his career in school administration in 1986, when he retired from P.S. 41 in New Dorp, Staten Island.

Both Saul and Nancy always had the travel bug. In the summer of 1955, one year after they married, they took a two-month long honeymoon in Europe, traveling extensively in England, Switzerland, Italy, and other destinations on the continent. Nancy loved Europe – and loathed Brooklyn – so much that she wanted to remain and restart their lives as expatriates. Saul, with a greater sense of caution and wish to be closer to family, persuaded her that they should return to the U.S. This they did, with a memorable crossing of the Atlantic aboard the SS Constitution. Subsequent journeys included a family trip by car from Brooklyn to Mexico in 1965, another family trip to Great Britain and Scandinavia in 1971, and many trips to other parts of Europe. Travel with his beloved wife Nancy was always a joy for Saul.

Saul was a man of many talents. He had a facility for drawing and painting, and family homes were decorated with his oil painting copies of masters like Van Gogh and J.M.W. Turner. He could sew a complete jacket or dress for Nancy, which he did in his younger years. He prided himself on the breadth of his reading, and in later life he explored his interest in writing poetry and then a novel based on his experiences in a tumultuous Harlem, New York City school in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In June 2013, Saul’s wife Nancy succumbed after a long and brave fight against cancer. Her loss was a dreadful blow to Saul. Throughout the years after her death, Saul frequently said that he missed her every day. Friends used to say that those two were “joined at the hip.”

In 2019, Saul sold the home that he and Nancy had shared and loved in Montague, MA and relocated to his daughter Victoria’s home in Broomfield, CO. Victoria and her husband Kevin had a large addition built onto the house, expanding their home so that Saul could live in comfort, surrounded by a well-curated selection of his most prized possessions. Saul enjoyed being close to family members, including granddaughters and great-grandchildren who live in the area. He maintained his interest in intellectual pursuits through the Five College Learning in Retirement program of Western Massachusetts. He continued to engage with the program remotely even after his move to Colorado.

Saul is survived by his sister Roberta Ash of Lake Worth, FL; sister-in-law Wilma Rifkin and her husband (and Saul’s friend of over 60 years) Stephen Rifkin of North Adams, MA; daughter Victoria Kaye and her husband Dr. Kevin Udis of Broomfield, CO; son Alex Kent and his wife Felicia Sevene of Amherst, MA; former daughter-in-law Lisa Kent and her husband Dr. David Glassberg of Amherst, MA; granddaughter Jessica Adams, her husband Paul Adams, and their children Jacob, Quintin, and Zander of Firestone, CO; grandson Daniel Kent and his fiancée Abigail Whittier of Easthampton, MA; granddaughter Johanna Blumenthal and her husband Tom Blanchet of Longmont, CO; granddaughter Antonia (Nina) Kent and her partner Brenden Provost of Waterbury, VT; granddaughter Emma Sevene of Easthampton, MA; “honorary grandson” Christopher Woodall of Deerfield, MA.

Saul lived a long life that was rich in love, adventure, and ideas. He will be missed by his family and friends who have enjoyed his experiences and rich stories which they will recall, retell, and share for years to come.

A celebration of Saul’s life will be held on October 19, 2025, at Victoria and Kevin’s home