The Bolles School announced an $8 million gift from the estate of Kernan and George H. Hodges Jr., the largest single contribution made to the school since it was established in 1933.
The funds are designated in perpetuity for the upkeep and maintenance of George H. Hodges Field on the Bolles Upper School San Jose Campus at 7400 San Jose Blvd. and the facilities that support it.
“Hodges Field is where so many Bolles stories begin – from Friday nights under the lights to championship moments and personal firsts,” said Carol Nimitz, Bolles’ chief advancement officer, in a Feb. 6 media release.
“George and Kernan’s extraordinary estate gift safeguards this tradition and strengthens the future of every program and student-athlete who calls this field home. We are deeply grateful for their enduring commitment to Bolles.”
The field is named in honor of former Bolles board of trustees member George H. Hodges, the father of Hodges Jr.
Bolles said the field’s history reflects decades of community stewardship and family philanthropy. It originally was named Dads’ Field in 1942, when Bolles was a military school, to recognize the effort and time given by fathers of Bolles cadets. Nine years later, George H. Hodges, a contractor and engineer, took an interest in rejuvenation of the field.
As the field’s transformation progressed, the Dads’ Club advised then-board Chair Fontaine LeMaistre that “because of Mr. George Hodges’ interest in, and financial assistance to, the construction of the Athletic Field, it would like to have the field named the ‘George Hodges’ Field in his honor.”
The field was dedicated to George H. Hodges on Oct. 14, 1955, during the Bolles vs. Duncan U. Fletcher High School football game. It was rededicated in 1976 by his widow, Nellie A. Hodges, and Hodges Jr. as part of upgrades and renovations under the leadership of A. Chester Skinner Jr.
It was rededicated again in 1984 and in 2006 through gifts from Kernan and Hodges Jr., who were philanthropists, real estate investors and developers in Jacksonville.