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Mr. Bentley passed away suddenly of a heart attack in November of 1970.
After his son Kent graduated, Mr. Bentley went into counseling full time. He felt it was the most enjoyable job he ever had in education. He had done it all in Minnesota. He started as an English teacher and then a high school principal. That was followed by superintendancys in three small communities.
In 1957, he moved to Claremont with his wife and all 5 children. The reason for the move was that he realized that his children would be ready for college soon and there was nothing near where they were living.
He was survived by his wife Genevieve, who passed away in 1976, and five children. His sons are; Kent who is a retired mathematics professor, Charles who is a retired attorney and Boyd who is retired from UC Davis where he did genetics research. His daughters are; Sharrie who is a retired auditor for the state of California and Joie who is still working as an RN.
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Jo Alene Bentley (Bateman) (1974)
I was just searching this site as I'm getting ready to celebrate my 40 year high school reunion tonight. I was a freshman the year my dad died. What a great write up in his memory . Thank you claremont alumni society for such a wonderful write up. My dad's memory lives on in all his children's lives
William Monroe Cheney (1969)
I don't remember Mr. Bently all that well. But I DO remember one contact I had with him. Back in 1969 I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do. I was a musician but thought I should probably go to college. I had mediocre grades but really good SAT scores. I was just sort of unsure what to do. I had some sort of "routine" meeting with my "counselor" Mr. Bently. It was really kind of odd... he said, "Bill why don't you go to Cal Poly?" I told him I hadn't applied, blah blah and blah. He filled out some paperwork and told me to take it to Cal Poly next week and I'd go to school there. I thought that was impossible... but went to the Cal Poly administration and gave them the paper.... they gave me a list of classes I was going to attend... and... and... I was in college! To this day I have no idea how that all went down. I do know this... without Mr. Bently's help I highly doubt I'd be an attorney today. My college days were some of the best of my life. I was a musician for many years. Then late in life, thanks to the fact I had a college education, I went to law school. THANK YOU MR. BENTLY... you truly touched my life. And I barely knew the man.
Martha Gerdeman (Johnson) (1963)
Mr. Bentley was one of the finest teachers I had in Claremont High School. I learned so much about American and European Litature. He opened my eyes to the world. From his classes, I wanted to learn more history. I developed a deeper love of reading. I will never forget this amazing teacher.Thank you, Martha