The Alvin M. Bentley Legacy

Alvin M. Bentley III, a third-generation resident of Michigan, was born in Portland Maine, on August 30, 1918. He was educated in public and private schools in North Carolina where he spent his childhood, and received a bachelor's degree in Arts from the University of Michigan in 1940. In 1963 he received a master's degree in Arts, also from his alma mater. Among his various honorary degrees is the doctorate in law from the University of Michigan.

Following his graduation, Mr. Bentley trained in Washington for diplomatic service and was a Foreign Service Officer in Mexico, Colombia, and Hungary from 1941 to 1950. He returned to Michigan in 1950 and married Arvella "Billie" Duescher in 1952. Later that year, Mr. Bentley was elected 8th District representative to the U.S. Congress, where he served four terms.

During his terms in office, Mr. Bentley was also a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was cast into the national spotlight in 1954 after he nearly lost his life when the Congress was attacked and held under siege by a group of Puerto Rican radicals.

In 1961, Mr. Bentley served as Chairman of the Education Committee at the Constitutional Convention in Lansing. His committee's thesis on education was termed one of the best in the country by educators and the general electorate. Mr. Bentley served on the Executive Branch Committee and was Chairman for the subcommittee that created a Civil Rights Commission. He was also responsible for the construction of a plan for executive reorganization of state government.

In 1963, he was appointed by Governor Romney to the Citizen's Committee on Higher Education and was chairman of the ad hoc committee that presented proposals for state support for Michigan public colleges and universities. These recommendations were directly responsible for a 25 percent increase in operating appropriations for these institutions that year, the highest increase in state history.

Alvin and Billie Bentley lived in Owosso, Michigan, located just northeast of Lansing. They raised five children.

In 1961, Alvin and Billie Bentley established the Alvin M. Bentley Foundation, a non-profit organization which has distinguished itself in the provision of scholarships for higher education. The Foundation has also been active in many other fields pertaining to education and civil affairs, notably in its sponsorship of Operation Bentley, an annual seven-day seminar conducted at Albion College on local government.
 

Created by Christopher M. O'Connor, Albion College. Source: The Alvin M. Bentley Foundation