Richard Bento was a corporate executive for World Airways and a businessman who owned Aliiolani Casuals. After enrolling his son at HBA in 1965, Bento and his family became friends with Col. Sagert and two faculty members.

Through providential circumstances, Bento’s adopted daughter attended the Sacred Hearts Convent in 1972, and developed good relations with the Sisters, donating excess fabric from his textile business for their mission work. The Sisters’ decision to sell the convent coincided with HBA’s search for a permanent location for its elementary school, and Bento subsequently recommended the property to then-president Sagert.

Through Bento’s friendship with the Sisters, he was able to secure a purchase agreement for the Bates street property under its appraised value and with a generous 15-year interest-free loan.

During his tenure as president, Bento modernized HBA for the 21st century - overseeing the construction of the middle school campus in 2006, and a $17 million capital campaign to build a new library, arts and science building, and a senior pavilion at the high school, completed in 2013.