Richard J. Bentley
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Longtime Westporter Richard J. Bentley died on May 15, 2021 from brain cancer at the age of 82. He passed peacefully and in no pain and was surrounded by his wife of sixty years and his three grown children. A high school baseball star from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Richard's life-long wanderlust was piqued when he joined the navy with his twin brother. He returned home to earn his degree at the University of Wisconsin and meet the love of his life: New York artist Nina Millock.
Richard then earned a masters degree in international relations from the SAIS at Johns Hopkins, and studied in Bologna, Italy and Freiburg, Germany. Richard and Nina travelled the world together raising their family, while Richard pursued a successful career as an international banker in Germany, England, Switzerland, Chile and Venezuela. Retiring from business at 55, Richard pivoted into a twenty-year involvement as a teacher and educator in Fairfield County and beyond.
Quick witted and never shy, Richard enjoyed leading man roles in amateur theater, poetry writing and cooking. Sporting brilliance continued into middle age and while his life-long tennis competition with his wife Nina resulted in a draw, his mastery at golf earned him the title of Westport super senior champion. His pursuit of excellence was perhaps the defining characteristic of Richard's life; he learned flawless German while attending grad school abroad, fluent Spanish upon taking a work assignment in Chile and was the only one on key when belting out show tunes at family get-togethers.
Richard is survived by his wife, Nina, and their three children - Christopher, his wife Mari and their three children Zoe, Oliver and Anna - Andrew, his wife Fiona and their two children James and Matthew - and Jennifer, her husband Justin, and her four children Alexander, William, Charlie and Lucy. Richard's younger brother James, his sister-in-law Dianne, four nieces and nephews and his beloved golden retriever Riley will all miss him too.