| Notes |
- New York Passenger Lists
Ship Vaderland from Antwerp and Dover, arrived New York August 21, 1906
Ship Olympic from Liverool, arrived New York September 23, 1914
Ship Homeric from Southampton, England, Arrived May 19, 1926
Pan American World Airways from Hamilton Bermuda, landed Idlewild NY, January 12, 1953
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The Blade (Toledo, OH)
April 8, 1997
Hilda Grosh Bentley of Perrysburg, a pioneer preservationist and a founding member of the Junior League of Toledo, died Saturday in her home on Gleneagles Road. She was 95 and had been in ill health for several years, according to her family.
Born in Toledo on March 13, 1902, to Dr. Lawrence C. Grosh and Caroline Ritchie Grosh, Mrs. Bentley attended the former James-Franklin School and the Smead School. She graduated from the Baldwin School, Bryn Mawr, Pa., and attended Smith College and Columbia University.
In 1926, she married Anderton L. Bentley, whose family owned and operated the former A. Bentley & Sons Co., general contractors. Mr. Bentley was the firm's vice chairman of the board when he died in 1972. A son, Lawrence C. Bentley, died in 1987.
Although Mrs. Bentley is noted for her many civic activities, her son, Thomas N. Bentley, said she didn't become active until he and his two brothers left home for school.
Her No. 1 passion was her family,'' he said. To illustrate his point, Mr. Bentley recalled a question asked of his mother by the visiting president of the Garden Club of America, who noticed the Bentleys had a rather modest garden.
What do you grow?'' she asked.
I grow three boys and trees,'' replied Mrs. Bentley, who, at the time, was a vice president of the organization.
In the early 1930s, Mrs. Bentley helped found the area's Junior League and became one of the organization's first presidents. But again in deference to her family duties, she asked to serve only one year rather than the usual two, Mr. Bentley said. It was through the Junior League that Mrs. Bentley met Mrs. Henry Dodge, who became a lifelong friend.
She was very intelligent,'' said Mrs. Dodge.
She was a very good listener, and I often went to her for advice. She also was a determined person, and she went and did it until it was finished.''
Mrs. Bentley had a lifelong interest in the preservation of historic buildings. For instance, Mr. Bentley remembers his mother lamenting the demolition of the old Main Library at Madison Avenue and Ontario Street in 1940, when such matters were rarely discussed. Mrs. Bentley eventually became involved with national preservationist organizations at a time when none existed here. She later helped spearhead preservationist activities in the Toledo area, such as the Landmarks committee, the Friends of Fort Meigs, the Isaac Ludwig Mill, and the Friends of the Maumee River. Mrs. Dodge credits Mrs. Bentley with getting Fort Meigs placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Mrs. Bentley was appointed an advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation by former Gov. James Rhodes. She served two terms from 1967-73, and also served on the board of trustees of the Ohio Historical Society from 1975-78. In 1970, Mrs. Bentley was the first recipient of the Zone X conservation award for Historic Preservation.
She was proud of herself and her accomplishments,'' Mr. Bentley said of his mother.
Mrs. Bentley, who was of German and Scottish descent and traveled widely, had a lifelong interest in genealogy. In 1985, she published a family history based on years of research.
She was a person who was very interested in heritage and the importance of the family to all human life,'' said Mr. Bentley.
She was a strong supporter of the George Stevens Rare Book collection at the Toledo Museum of Art and she was on the advisory board of the Friends of the Library and Archival collection at Bowling Green State University. Mrs. Bentley was a former board member of the Toledo Red Cross, the Mental Health Association; The Toledo Hospital, and the Maumee Valley Historical Society.
Surviving are two sons, Anderton L.
Pete'' Bentley and Thomas N. Bentley; five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
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Center for Archival Collections
Bentley Family Papers
As the firstborn child of Dr. Lawrence Chamberlain Grosh, Hilda benefited from an upbringing which included a period of living in Europe while her father pursued advanced medical studies, education in Toledo (at the insistence of her aunt Ada Ritchie) at the Janes-Franklin School and the Smead School for Girls, and a year of college at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Married in 1926 to Anderton Lewis Bentley, she had three children, Anderton Lewis "Peter" Bentley, Jr., and twins Thomas Northrup and Lawrence Chamberlain Bentley. Through the years, in addition to her attention to her family and the concerns of the Bentley construction business, Hilda was deeply involved in community affairs in the areas of history, historic preservation health, mental health, art, conservation, and education. Her activities with such organizations as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Ohio Historical Society, Maumee Valley Historical Society (as a founding member of its Landmarks Committee), Friends of the Library and Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University, Toledo Hospital, Mental Health Association of Toledo, and the Toledo Museum of Art, have demonstrated her continuing commitment to her community.
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1902 - 1997 (95 years)
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