BENTLEY, JOHN WILLIAM
In his 92nd year, passed away April 10, 2014, in Burlington, peacefully in his sleep with his family by his side. Son of Frederick and Lydia Bentley. Beloved husband of 67 years to Jeanne McCormick. Dearly loved father to Doug, Alan, Gregg and Paul, and previously deceased, Martin and Peter. Beloved grandfather to Johnathan, Megan, Andrew, Rachel, Tim and Micha. Born in England, John flew a Mosquito reconnaissance plane in WWII. He was sent to Mount Hope with the RAF, and met Jeanne on his first day in the country. Separated by the War for 3 years, John and Jeanne wrote each other every day. They were married in England in 1946, and moved back to Hamilton the next year, remaining in the Hamilton-Burlington area for 66 years. John worked for over 40 years at the Westinghouse Motor Division in Hamilton. He was a well-known and respected pianist, and played with the likes of Juliette, Tony Bennett, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. A devout Christian, John never met a person he didn’t like. After a lengthy struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease, John is now at peace with the Lord. Friends may call at Bay Gardens Funeral Home, 1010 Botanical Drive Burlington on Sunday, from 6 to 9 p.m. A Funeral service will be held on Monday, April 14, 2014 at 11 a.m. at North Burlington Baptist Church at 1377 Walkers Line, Burlington. Interment to follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Burlington.
Hello Bentley Family,
We just heard today about the passing of dear John. We are saddened to hear of his passing. I wish we would have known earlier so that we could have come to pay respects. Please know that you are all in our thoughts and prayers. Love, the Corda Family.
My condolences to all of John’s family. I did not know John that well, as I only met him several years ago at NBBC. However, I did realize that he was a man of character and a solid friend to those he knew. I never knew muich about his musical accomplishments, so he was obviously a humble man. I am so impressed that he played with such stars as Toney Bennet, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. He must have been a wonderful pianist in his younger days. I did have the pleasure of hearing him play at NBBC and I enjoyed it when he went a little off script and played some “jazzy” tunes now and then. I was very grateful to John that he offered to play some hymns at my Father’s funeral, and despite a terrible Winter storm that day he showed up as promised. I am sure that he is with the Lord now and at peace. God bless his family.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Bentley family at this very difficult time. It was a pleasure to work for Mr. Bentley at Westinghouse Motors (1987-1991). Althought my years were few, I have fond memories of the time I did spend at the company. Mr Bentley always made me feel welcome and part of the Westinghouse family.
Marla Kearse
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bentley family on your loss. I met John in the fall of 1975 at The Westinghouse, boy was he ever a lot of fun to work with, those were the days with John, Roy Fletcher and Don MacDougall who all are no longer with us. John always let that kettle boil the water for I can’t remember how many minutes it was but it was a specific long time period before he put the tea bag in. Then there was the humdingers, those were the 3″ wide roll of paper that came off that table top calculator we all shared in the Marketing Dept, John would roll the spent paper, sometimes 25 feet long, into a roll and then pull out the middle piece and form this long cone like dart from the piece of paper, he would get them about 6 or 8 feet long and they were tossed around the place; the best though was the “flaming humdinger” when he once lit the one end and jettisoned it over the filing cabinets into the accounting dept, they had a bird over there with that one and so did Ernie. All those lunches in the conference room with crazy 8’s and bridge games, miss those days as well. John was a special guy, I’m grateful I met and worked with him.
Tom Johnson
My deepest condolences to Jeanne and the boys and all the grandkids. While I have lost touch with most of our old crowd at Westinghouse I would find myself thinking of John quite often. He was truly a special person and I was a better person for knowing him. I have many memories of John and each and every one brings a smile to my face. If I had to sum him up in one word it was “colourful” and he brought that colour to everyone he touched. He played at our wedding in 1975 and showed up at our 25th anniversary to play a few more tunes, in fact John even taught me to ballroom dance for our wedding (right in our office at Beach Road). Johny Bentley and his Swincypators featuring Jimmy Snitch on the sticks, I wouldn’t know how to spell it but I have never forgotten the name of John’s first band from before WWII. John was a great story teller. Here’s to you my friend.
Frank and Linda Beattie