Obituary for Bento Box Soltis

May 24, 2007 - November 21, 2025

There are dogs who join a family, and then there are dogs who alter the gravitational pull of an entire community. Bento was the latter.

In 2014, Bento became Freedom University’s unofficial Ambassador of Love and Minister of Education. In this dual role, he spent thirty semesters comforting students who buried their faces in his soft fur, thirty semesters sitting through my human rights lectures with the patience of a furry saint, thirty semesters as our quiet elder who never missed a class. He adored the students in my care, and with each semester, the village he vowed to love and protect would grow.