Beloved father, grandfather and great grandfather, Len Bentham, passed away on August 6, 2023.

Len, or Speed, as was his nickname during his years with the air force, loved flying.

He earned his private pilot’s license at the Windsor Flying Club in 1949 before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1950.

Len spent two years serving in North Luffenham, England, before returning to Trenton, where he met “a very vivacious and popular nursing sister,” Para Rescue Nurse Ruth Kelly.

Len and Ruth married in Windsor, then spent more than 20 years moving between various Canadian Air Force Bases – in Canada and Germany – before settling in Dartmouth, where Len joined the Canadian Coast Guard as a helicopter pilot.

Predeceased by his loving wife of over 60 years, Ruth (nee Elizabeth Ruth Kelly), Len will be very sadly missed by his children Kelly, Karen, Bob, and Kathy Bentham, his grandchildren Kelly Mitchell (Patrick Garcia), Alayne Mitchell, and Shelby and Haleigh Sansoucy, and his great grandchildren Claire and William Garcia and Avery Watts.

As per Len’s wishes, no funeral will be held.

The family gratefully declines flowers but asks anyone interested to please make a donation in Len’s name to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.