Well known musician Esther Bentley, one of Bermuda's oldest residents, passed away on March 11. She had just celebrated her 106th birthday.

Esther Allen Bentley was born on March 8, 1904 to Helena and John Allen of Hamilton Bermuda. As the oldest of ten children she was predeceased by all four of her brothers and four out of her five sisters.

Her only surviving sibling, 104-year-old Gwen Marie Allen currently lives at the Jewish Home Life Care in New York. One of her brothers, Wilfred (Mose) Allen, was a leading figure in the Progressive Labour Party for many years.

At age 17 the then-Miss Allen left Bermuda for New York City wher she atended the prestigious Julliard School of Music.

In 1942, she married Earl Bentley in Harlem, New York where her daughter Earlene Bentley was born. Miss Bentley has lived in London for most of her life, making a name for herself as a professional singer and actress.

Mrs. Bentley and her family later moved to Jamaica, Long Island, New York where she was a Music Teacher, Choir Director and Church Organist. While living in Long Island, Esther devoted much of her time to organising concerts and social events to raise money in aid of organisations that sponsored young musicians in her community. She was also a music teacher and delighted in bringing to Bermuda choral groups, vocalists and musicians she had trained. They were presented locally in concerts raising money for charity.

Years later when she returned to Bermuda in the early 1990s, she would organise musical teas and other events for the residents of Westmeath Rest Home.

In 2006 Ms Bentley was featured in Gosling's bicentennial advertising campaign. She was the star of several advertisments celebrating Bermudians who had reached the age of 100.

Though wheelchair-bound in her later years, because she fell and broke her hip, Mrs. Bentley had all of her faculties; she still exercised and still played the piano – a talent that she has had since she was five.

Mrs. Bentley was a resident of Packwood Nursing home in Sandys and had lived there for eight years before her death last week. A funeral service and burial was held on Tuesday morning.