In the 9th grade, I had few friends and low grades. It was February and George invited me to his home on Lowell St. He lived in a home filled with antiques, I thought it wonderful. We played cold Basketball in the driveway and watched the Bruins and Canadians on TV, later, in the afternoon. You don’t know good people, maybe, when you are young . I lived on Lowell St., the last place I lived before moving to South Florida, and always thought, I wonder how his world turned out, as I passed his street. Seeing the posts make me understand, how, his honesty and consideration brought a fine life for him. Tonight, here in South Alabama, the sounds of the night will sing to his goodness.
Hi Barry. For you and others interested, this is from an email I received from his kids:
"Hi everyone,
If you have any photos that you could forward please send them to this email address.
We also planned an after party at Salvatore's at 354 Merrimack Street in Lawrence. Please come and rock n' roll with us from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. All are welcome to join us.
It's with a heavy heart we regret to inform you that our father, George W. Bentley, has passed away. Arrangements for services are being made at Burke-Magliozzi funeral home, at 390 North Main Street, Andover, MA for this coming Saturday, March 24th. There will be a wake period from 10-12 and a burial service from 12-1.
We are planning on having a party afterwards because our dad was adamant that his services be full of laughter and rock n' roll. More details to come on this in the coming days, but please join us; if you're able he would want everyone that he knew there and having a great time.
Please pass this message along to anyone else you feel should know. An obituary will be posted in the Eagle Tribune and the Lowell Sun later this week.
Regretfully, I live 1200 miles away and won't be able to attend. I'll never forget the day when our paths crossed, purely by chance, in Phuoc Vinh, Vietnam.
George - A/K/A Mouse - this gentle soul always remembered to send me a birthday wish to the young lady from Turner Farm's Territory. We joked that he was the Mayor of Ballardvale which we knew growing up was the capital of Andover! Go with God you gentle giant of a man, and dance & sing with the angels...you deserve as friendly a welcoming with him due to your kindness here with your fellow classmates, friends, and family.
I’m not much for words and I agree with Sharlenes comment. George always sent birthday wishes my way. I know that I will miss those wishes. Rest In Peace Mouse.
I still have a very hard time believing George is no longer with us. I will always remember how funny he was and how he reached out to so many of us at different times. He always sent me birthday wishes...I will sincerely miss those. My prayers go out to his children and family. Greiving is difficult, I know this all too well. George, I'm blowing kisses your way up to the heavens...we will all miss you tremendously.
It was good to see some folks in Andover this morning but it was a tough reason to gather. When I finally made it to the 50th reunion so many then made me feel welcome. George and I had a chance to chat. He made me feel like our last conversation had been hours before and not years. I was very thankful to George for that. Later on I met him again and he was very interested in how I felt about “being back home” in New England. I felt that he cared about and understood the ambivalence. My wife and I could not stay for the gathering afterward but like George would want take care and be safe, Tom and Deb Coffman
It with a heavy heart that I write this. George was my best friend in Andover and his passing was unexpected and heart wrenching. He was my link to Andover and whenever I got back up to Andover, George and I would get together and stay out of trouble most of the time. I will always remember our trips to the beach in our early years and visiting classmates in our later years. With traded news and jokes via email and the last one was only a few days before his passing, which kept me connected to Andover. To me he was one of the ones that kept our class connected and I know he truly enjoyed the reunions even though I only made a few of them. He was a proud Vietnam veteran and he was one of the few people that I could share my Vietnam experiences with. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the services yesterday since I was in meetings at Avondale shipyard in New Orleans all week and didn't get home until Friday evening. I did go out yesterday afternoon and had a couple of beers in George's memory even though the wife was not to happy with this. George will be sorely missed by all and the memories of our adventures together will always remain with me.
I remember George as far back as first grade at Bradlee School in Ballard Vale. I remember him as a good student and a tad bit naughty. He put a tack on Miss Bisbee’s chair in first grade. Lucky for him, her rather large frame brushed it off onto the floor. One day in third grade, he happened to be goofing around in the coat room when our teacher and principal, Miss Collins, failed to see the humor. As punishment, she hit his knuckles with her ruler. George turned to the class and said,”That didn’t hurt!” Uh-oh! That didn’t go over well and she did it again. That time we all could tell that it REALLY hurt! George and I reminisced about those days and other days many times. George kept me up to date on many classmates. He did a great job of finding our “lost” members. No matter what, he was a loyal member of our class. He loved “the Vale” and followed in his father’s footsteps by calling himself the mayor. May the Mayor of the capitol of Andover Rest In Peace!
Kurt Emerson
In the 9th grade, I had few friends and low grades. It was February and George invited me to his home on Lowell St. He lived in a home filled with antiques, I thought it wonderful. We played cold Basketball in the driveway and watched the Bruins and Canadians on TV, later, in the afternoon. You don’t know good people, maybe, when you are young . I lived on Lowell St., the last place I lived before moving to South Florida, and always thought, I wonder how his world turned out, as I passed his street. Seeing the posts make me understand, how, his honesty and consideration brought a fine life for him. Tonight, here in South Alabama, the sounds of the night will sing to his goodness.
Barry Low
Very sorry to hear of George’s passing. I have been trying to find out about the arrangements . Does anyone know what they are?
Arthur Johnson
Hi Barry. For you and others interested, this is from an email I received from his kids:
"Hi everyone,
On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 3:13 PM, George W Bentley <gwbentley63@gmail.com>wrote:
Sharlene Moreau (Whipple)
George - A/K/A Mouse - this gentle soul always remembered to send me a birthday wish to the young lady from Turner Farm's Territory. We joked that he was the Mayor of Ballardvale which we knew growing up was the capital of Andover! Go with God you gentle giant of a man, and dance & sing with the angels...you deserve as friendly a welcoming with him due to your kindness here with your fellow classmates, friends, and family.
Stephen Farr
I’m not much for words and I agree with Sharlenes comment. George always sent birthday wishes my way. I know that I will miss those wishes. Rest In Peace Mouse.
Mary Passanisi (Gonsalves)
I still have a very hard time believing George is no longer with us. I will always remember how funny he was and how he reached out to so many of us at different times. He always sent me birthday wishes...I will sincerely miss those. My prayers go out to his children and family. Greiving is difficult, I know this all too well. George, I'm blowing kisses your way up to the heavens...we will all miss you tremendously.
Thomas Coffman
It was good to see some folks in Andover this morning but it was a tough reason to gather. When I finally made it to the 50th reunion so many then made me feel welcome. George and I had a chance to chat. He made me feel like our last conversation had been hours before and not years. I was very thankful to George for that. Later on I met him again and he was very interested in how I felt about “being back home” in New England. I felt that he cared about and understood the ambivalence. My wife and I could not stay for the gathering afterward but like George would want take care and be safe, Tom and Deb Coffman
Donald Emmons
It with a heavy heart that I write this. George was my best friend in Andover and his passing was unexpected and heart wrenching. He was my link to Andover and whenever I got back up to Andover, George and I would get together and stay out of trouble most of the time. I will always remember our trips to the beach in our early years and visiting classmates in our later years. With traded news and jokes via email and the last one was only a few days before his passing, which kept me connected to Andover. To me he was one of the ones that kept our class connected and I know he truly enjoyed the reunions even though I only made a few of them. He was a proud Vietnam veteran and he was one of the few people that I could share my Vietnam experiences with. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the services yesterday since I was in meetings at Avondale shipyard in New Orleans all week and didn't get home until Friday evening. I did go out yesterday afternoon and had a couple of beers in George's memory even though the wife was not to happy with this. George will be sorely missed by all and the memories of our adventures together will always remain with me.
Ginny Hall (Dickens)
I remember George as far back as first grade at Bradlee School in Ballard Vale. I remember him as a good student and a tad bit naughty. He put a tack on Miss Bisbee’s chair in first grade. Lucky for him, her rather large frame brushed it off onto the floor. One day in third grade, he happened to be goofing around in the coat room when our teacher and principal, Miss Collins, failed to see the humor. As punishment, she hit his knuckles with her ruler. George turned to the class and said,”That didn’t hurt!” Uh-oh! That didn’t go over well and she did it again. That time we all could tell that it REALLY hurt! George and I reminisced about those days and other days many times. George kept me up to date on many classmates. He did a great job of finding our “lost” members. No matter what, he was a loyal member of our class. He loved “the Vale” and followed in his father’s footsteps by calling himself the mayor. May the Mayor of the capitol of Andover Rest In Peace!
Leslie Stackhouse (Clapper)
So sorry to hear of George's passing. I didn't know him that well,but he always had a smile for everyone..