Philanthropy | Intelligent Giving: Dr. William (Bill) H. Jervey

By Lisa Codianne Fowler | Photos by Nancy Guth | August 2022

It’s not often that a man retires at the age of 37 and becomes a millionaire within a year, much less proceeds to shower an entire community with blessings. Philanthropist Bill Jervey, inspired by “his hero” Andrew Carnegie, acquired his means from studying the stock market. Once an esteemed college professor, he turned to the market and was wildly successful. From there, he has been making magnanimous contributions, both before and since becoming involved with Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

“I bought my first share of stock at the age of 13,” Jervey says. “In fact, it’s kind of an interesting story. It was Friday the 13th of June 1958, and I will always remember that day. That day started my journey, and I have been in the market literally every day since 1958. I have seen an awful lot of these ups and downs, so these temporary drops of magnitudes that you wouldn’t believe don’t scare me off. Patience and persistence I have found are the two biggest virtues you can have in the stock market.”

Jervey was born in Washington, DC in 1944 right before the end of WWII, to parents who were both Federal civil servants. That’s when his mother became a homemaker, and his father went into the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The family lived in Virginia for 11 years and spent many vacations in parts of Florida, including Venice.

“I had a fabulous time as a seven- or eight-year-old kid playing on the beach and building sandcastles. I thought even then, I would like to eventually land in this part of Florida and had no idea that I would end up going to Hawaii first. When I was 11, my dad was offered a great job promotion to go to Honolulu, and he eagerly accepted it.”

From the time Jervey was in seventh grade through college, Hawaii was home. The Library of Hawaii was his second home. “While other kids my age were surfing, I was at the library, a voracious reader, in a beautiful building that, at the time, I did not know was built by Andrew Carnegie.” 

There he learned that Carnegie was perhaps the first true philanthropist, who vowed to give away most of his enormous wealth while still alive. Through more than 20 philanthropic causes, he gave some $60 million to fund a system of 1,689 public libraries around the English-speaking world. That became Jervey’s life-long inspiration.

Jervey had a great opportunity at the University of Hawaii. He received his bachelor’s degree in three years, and graduated with the highest-grade average in the class. Politics became his passion, and he received a fellowship at the University of Arizona. A Masters and Doctorate later, he went on to attack various public policy issues. His first job was in New Mexico at the University of New Mexico where he stayed for only a year. But New Mexico was not his destined home.

“The Florida bug caught me again. I accepted a position at a nearly new university called Florida Technological University (or FTU), better known today as UCF, University of Central Florida. I was there almost from the beginning. I got there in 1970 and it held its first classes in 1968. It was quite a small campus then; little did I have an inkling that it would become one of the largest universities in the United States. I was there for 12 years in the Department of Political Science, and finally in 1982 I had to decide if I wanted to stay in academia for the rest of my life. I chose to return to the stock market, something I had been playing with since I was a 13-year-old back in Hawaii. From there, it’s all history.”

“I met a lovely lady at a Christmas party, and we fell deeply in love. Even though she was a senior airline attendant, she had never been to Florida’s West Coast before. When we toured and got to Venice, she said, ‘Bill I think this is the spot.’ I hadn’t shared my childhood experience in Venice and was glad she said that. A long story short, Janet and I did not work out, but I didn’t let that discourage me from making a change.”

“I bought a condo right here in downtown Venice. Since 2009, I have been ‘bicoastal’ with condos in Daytona Beach Shores and Venice. As we speak, I’m on my penthouse lanai on the ninth floor overlooking most of the island of Venice where I can watch the sailboats in the Gulf of Mexico. I think this is probably my favorite room in all the world.”

When Jervey moved to Venice, one of the things that most intrigued him were the historic homes that were here. He contemplated buying one of the charming homes built in the 1920s, but when he considered the work required—at his age, and as a single guy—he decided against it. But he wasn’t deterred from getting involved in preserving the richness of the area’s history.

Jervey joined the Venice Area Historical Society and Venice Heritage, Inc., volunteered as a docent at the Venice Train Depot, and contributed to the effort to restore a Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Pullman railroad car and Circus Arena. The Circus Arena didn’t succeed (it was demolished in 2014), but that did not discourage him. He launched a new project – the restoration of the Lord-Higel House, the second oldest home in Sarasota County. “This is where I started with my major philanthropic efforts. The house was built in 1896 by Joseph H. Lord and it sat for five years with very little being done, before I came along.” 

Jervey is quick to credit others for the progress made in Venice. He is quite modest when explaining the effort, funds, guidance, and complications involved to achieve these successes, which include a permanent $1 million endowment at Gulf Coast Community Foundation to support a new Venice library through the Library Foundation for Sarasota County. This new state-of-the-art structure is named the William H. Jervey, Jr. Venice Public Library.

“Bill Jervey is a man of great intellect, curiosity, and character,” says Mark Pritchett, President/CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “I am a better person for knowing him. Our entire team at Gulf Coast Community Foundation loves working with Bill and we are honored to be his philanthropic home.  We will make sure that Bill’s impact upon our region will be felt for generations to come.” 

Jervey’s generous gift to State College of Florida was the largest in the school’s 62-year history. The State College of Florida Venice campus library and lake are named after him. 

Jervey’s philanthropy and involvement extends to many worthy causes and organizations including the Venice Area Historical Society, Venice Heritage, Venice Theatre, Venice Area Beautification, Rotary Futures at Venice High School, Library Foundation for Sarasota County, Friends of the Jervey Venice Public Library, and the Sarabeth Bryan Kalajian Children’s Wing and Garden at the Jervey Venice Public Library.

 “Over the years of working with Bill I’ve learned that he loves to spend his afternoons in the library,” says Kirstin Fulkerson, Senior Vice President for Philanthropy at Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “Once when I needed to chat on a timely project, I drove to the library and sure enough there he was! We are so grateful to have Bill in our Gulf Coast donor family.” 

There’s a good chance you too may meet Bill Jervey at the library that bears his name.  He doesn’t own a computer but instead uses the library resources. It is his home away from home. A quiet place where deep thinking and contemplation become the gateway to great things.  Where dreams become realities, and where Bill Jervey just may tell you “I never dreamed anything like this would be possible.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION on ways you can give, please contact Gulf Coast Community Foundation at 941-486-4600 or visit gulfcoastcf.org.