Lolo – Longtime Lolo resident Woody Bentham, 97, passed away August 18, 2016 of congestive heart failure at The Living Centre in Stevensville.
He was born in Florence to John and Mary Bentham. He was the second youngest of 16 children. The family moved to Lolo when Woody was two years old. As a young teenager he went to Vancouver, WA to work in the shipyards for a couple years before returning to Lolo at the age of 18. He started work for the Lolo Post Office in 1937, delivering the mail in and around Lolo and up Highway 12 to the Powell Ranger Station in Idaho.
In 1947 he met and married Grace Slocum. They were married 5 days short of 67 years.
In the 1960’s he left the mail route to his wife to run and he owned and operated the city buses in Missoula for eight years before returning to the mail route where he retired from in 1989.
Woody was preceded in death by his beautiful wife Grace, his parents and 15 brothers and sisters. He is survived by two children, Woody Jr. (Cindy) of Florence and Cindy (Dave) Kirby of Florence; three grandchildren, Mike (Deidra) Kirby of Lolo, Katie Kirby of Dana Point, CA and Kara (Charlie) O’Niel of Sarasota, FL; and six great-grandchildren.
There will be a small family service at the Florence-Carlton Cemetery on Saturday, September 17, 2016 at 1 p.m., where both Woody and Grace will be laid to rest. The family would like to thank Partners Hospice, especially his favorite nurse, Libby, for all the support and care they gave our father. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.whitesittfuneralhome.com.