Bent, Belinda Playfair (McAuliffe) of Goulburn (Australia), age 83, passed away June 16, 2024. Born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, she was the daughter of the late Thomas Joseph McAuliffe OBE and Alma (Jenkins) McAuliffe. Her twin brother, Dalton, predeceased her in 1941.
After receiving a Home Economics Diploma at the McDonald Institute (Guelph) in 1962, she continued her education at Lakehead Teachers College in Thunder Bay where she obtained her Ontario Teacher’s Certificate on June 26th, 1964. She would go on to teach for the Lakehead Board of Education and for Confederation College in Thunder Bay, in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, and in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia.
Belinda’s enjoyment of traveling took her on a year-long adventure to Australia on the ship “Lakemba” with her Thunder Bay girlfriends. Arriving September 1966, she promptly sent an Australian postcard to her Mom before embarking on the ‘around Australia adventures’, mostly hitchhiking and working in various roles as they traveled. She met her future husband, John Francis Bent, in Darwin during her travels. After marrying John at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Rockhampton, they moved to Bougainville, Papua New Guinea where John managed a Cocoa plantation and Belinda established a small thatched-roof schoolhouse for the local children.
Her sons Richard Thomas Bent (1968) and Michael John Bent (1971) were born at Rabaul Base Hospital, New Britain, Papua New Guinea and Robin Lee Bent (1972) at Rockhampton Base Hospital, Queensland, Australia. Belinda and Michael shared the same birth date. With her sons approaching school age the family relocated to Aylesford, in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada. Belinda enjoyed many aspects of rural life in Nova Scotia where she made lifelong friends, enjoying cross-country skiing and walking country trails with them. She was involved in the Weston Branch of the Federated Women’s Institute of Canada. Christmas celebrations and many other special occasions were always shared with her beloved sister Bernice Bignell and her family in Halifax and in the Annapolis Valley.
Belinda relocated to Thunder Bay in 1988 where she spent much of her treasured time with her beloved Mom, her sister Barbara McAuliffe Day and many of her long-time friends. Belinda made friends and acquaintances very easily, she was definitely a people person. Besides making several trips to Michigan, USA to visit her sister Bea McAuliffe Stone and family Belinda also visited South Korea and Australia to be with her sons Richard, Michael and Robin and to take part in their weddings and in later years to spend time with her grandchildren. Belinda often fondly remembered her travels through Australia while reliving old memories in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.
Belinda moved to Australia permanently in 2018, living with son Michael and his wife in Goulburn, NSW. She easily made new friends by joining community clubs (CWA, The View, Day Out Society, Probus and the Goulburn Multicultural Centre) while also keeping in touch with old friends and families in Canada. She had just recently traveled to Brisbane where she enjoyed spending her precious time with her sons Richard and Robin and her beloved grandchildren.
Survived by her husband John Francis Bent; sons Richard Thomas Bent, Michael John Bent, Robin Lee Bent; daughters-in-law Pauline Yoon Bent, Yenny Vandalita Bent and Jane Backhouse-Bent, grandchildren Ashley Emma Bent, Leon Alfred Bent, Nicholas Chaffey Bent, Hugo Jack Bent; sisters Beatrice Stone, Michigan, USA; Barbara (Bill) Day, Vancouver, BC; brother Thomas (Camilla) McAuliffe, Mississauga, Ontario. Belinda was predeceased by her sister Bernice Bignell and brothers in-law Ray Bignell and Chuck Stone.
Gee Whiniggers - Belinda lived a great life, loved by families and adored by friends.
As her dear friend once said, “We rarely set out on an adventure, but we always found one.”
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Trinity United Church, Thunder Bay where she attended services, or to the Northern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame (where her Dad was inducted).
