Kent Bruce Friedman

Kent Bruce Friedman was born on August 28, 1947, to Dr. David Friedman and Helen Doris Friedman (nee Duckett), and passed from this earth on December 8, 2024. Kent was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Ellen Kay, and brother, Warren. He is survived by his wife, Kim Friedman, children: Katy Friedman Miller of Webster Groves, MO, Karen Seligman (Peter) of Little Silver, NJ, Erin Civey (Wade) of St. Charles, MO, Brad Stremsterfer of Nashville, TN, Todd Stremsterfer (Jocelyn) of Stilwell, KS, and Kevin Stremsterfer (Katie) of Austin, TX, as well as 14 grandchildren: Ben & Claire Miller; Lyra & Teddy Seligman; Grace, Ava, Bella, and Landry Civey, Lizzie Campbell; Zoey & Callie Stremsterfer; Maia, Addi, & Riley Stremsterfer.
In 1996, Kent married Kim Lanter Stremsterfer. From the start, Kent and Kim strove to truly blend their families and some of his happiest memories were vacationing with their ever-expanding brood. Whether in Naples, their vacation home at the Lake of the Ozarks, or in whatever rental was large enough to accommodate everyone on a beach or in the mountains, Kent reveled in his role as Pawpaw.
When Kent and Kim retired to Naples, FL in 2004, they embraced their new community. Kent served as chair of the Board of Stewards at North Naples Church for five different terms. His last position was both on the Board of Stewards and the school board of the Village School at North Naples Church, acting as liaison between the church and the school. One of his proudest achievements during his tenure was aiding in the expansion of the Village School to encompass K-12 education. In addition, he was on the board of Vanderbilt Country Club for 10 years.
Kent's prior community involvement included three consecutive three-year terms on the Board of Education of the Parkway School District in St. Louis County (1990-1999), twice elected as Board President. In addition, he was a past director of the St. Louis County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, and for eleven years he served as a director and treasurer of the Missouri United Methodist Foundation.
Kent grew up in Granite City, Illinois. He was a graduate of Culver Military Academy in Indiana ('65) and earned his bachelor's degree ('69) and Juris Doctor ('72) from Washington University in St. Louis.
Upon graduation from law school, Kent served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves. The majority of his civilian career was spent as in-house counsel and in management for various companies including Chromalloy American Corporation, CMC Electronics, and Medicine Shoppe International. In 2004, he retired from Cardinal Health, Inc. where he last served as the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Managed Pharmacy Benefits, Inc.
While Kent's clear-eyed pragmatism made him an invaluable member of many non-profit boards through the years, he was, nevertheless, a romantic at heart, reliably stirred by patriotic fervor or even just a good rendition of a George M. Cohan song. Though, perhaps above all else, he was moved by a deep pride in all his children and grandchildren, and love for his wife, Kim.
Service & Celebration of Kent's life will be held at North Naples Church, 6000 Goodlette-Frank Road, Naples Florida 34109 on Saturday, January 18th, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. Dinner Celebration will be held at Vanderbilt Country Club immediately following service.