{"id":442490,"date":"2025-12-12T14:08:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/442490\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T14:08:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:08:43","slug":"jacksonville-port-authority-coo-killed-in-i-10-crash-to-be-laid-to-rest-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/442490\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville Port Authority COO killed in I-10 crash to be laid to rest Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"

MACCLENNY, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Loved ones, coworkers, and community leaders will gather Friday to honor Baker County Commissioner and Jacksonville Port Authority Chief Operating Officer James Bennett, who was killed in a crash earlier this week.<\/a><\/p>\n

Bennett, 58, was killed Monday in a crash on Interstate 10.<\/p>\n

Friday is expected to be a deeply emotional day in Baker County as people from across Northeast Florida come together to remember Bennett.<\/p>\n

JaxPort officials and Baker County leaders say he was not only respected but genuinely loved by the people who worked with him and knew him personally.<\/p>\n

RELATED | <\/b>Baker County community pays respects after Jacksonville Port Authority COO dies in crash<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Bennett was killed Monday morning when investigators say a 16-year-old from Glen St. Mary, who was driving a red F-150 eastbound on I-10, slammed into the back of Bennett\u2019s white Lexus sedan, which was slowing for traffic congestion.<\/p>\n

The impact sent the pick-up truck flipping, and it landed on its right side, partly across the outside shoulder, the report said.<\/p>\n

Troopers said the Lexus was sent careening into the inside guardrail, and the impact spun the car around.<\/p>\n

Bennett died at the scene.<\/p>\n

READ: <\/b>James Bennett obituary<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

As COO, Bennett guided major growth at the port \u2014 including the deepening of the harbor and new cargo-handling capabilities. Colleagues say his vision and steady leadership helped shape JaxPort into what it is today.<\/p>\n

Friends who knew him personally say his faith and love for his family guided everything he did.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Sunday, I shook his hand and asked him about his Thanksgiving weekend. He went to the Panhandle to be with family, and we just laughed about his trip and the people that he went to see out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennett leaves behind a wife of 33 years and three children.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommissioner Bennett served our county with integrity and heartfelt commitment. We are grateful for his years of service,\u201d Sheriff Scotty Rhoden wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Family members told News4JAX they\u2019re grateful for the outpouring of support as they navigate this sudden loss.<\/p>\n

A Celebration of Jimmy\u2019s Life will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Christian Fellowship Temple on West Ohio Avenue in Macclenny.<\/p>\n

Interment will follow at North Prong Cemetery.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MACCLENNY, Fla. \u2013 Loved ones, coworkers, and community leaders will gather Friday to honor Baker County Commissioner and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":433971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,82133,8314,3188,723,7310,201211,85434,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-442490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-baker-county","10":"tag-duval-county","11":"tag-fl","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-jacksonville","14":"tag-james-bennett","15":"tag-jaxport","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}