David B. Bentley pushed to get the “Friendship Bridge” across Valley Creek Estuary built as a symbol of the intangible “bridge” he strove to build between Mutsu City, Japan and Port Angeles, Washington. Bentley passed away in February of 2007 and was the founder of Peninsula International Relations Association (PIRA), the group formed to establish the exchange programs and sister city relationship between Mutsu and Port Angeles. Bentley formed PIRA in 1991 after he traveled to Mutsu City and established the foundation for the relationship. In1994, the first of many groups of Japanese students came for a visit to experience American life in Port Angeles. The relationship between the cities was formalized in 1995. The bridge was built in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the group. “The bridge was really his idea that he hatched, and he plowed it through the whole way” Tad Price, longtime friend of Bentley’s and former PIRA president, said. “He’s the one that got all the volunteers and got the materials donated. That was his baby. “This is his legacy.” Chuck Leber, the current president of PIRA, said that, at his death, Bentley was working to establish a foundation that would pay the exchange program between the two cities. “His interest was establishing a foundation that would be pretty active.” “He was a big guy with an even bigger heart.” The 38-foot, 6-inch pedestrian bridge was completed in 1999. It spans Valley Creek and was constructed to complete the $1.5 million Soroptomist International of Port Angeles project to transform the K-Ply mill’s former log yard into a natural estuary habitat at the mouth of Valley Creek. The project, just west of downtown Port Angeles business district, was built through volunteer work and donations. The form of the bridge represents a handshake between the people of Port Angeles and those of Mutsu City, Japan, which is on the northern part of Honshu Island. The bridge was the outward sign of what Bentley strove to accomplish on a deeper level. “What he always told me was that he believed if people would sit a table and talk, we could solve all of our differences,” said Price. He just wanted to get people together so they could understand each other and talk. “Mainly that effort was aimed at kids. He’s got a lot of friends in Japan.”
Students, ranging in age from 6 to 75, from Mutsu City come to Port Angeles to get a taste of American culture and North Olympic Peninsula natives visit to learn about Japanese culture. “We’ve had five Port Angeles mayors that have made the trip to Japan, and that is because of Dave’s work,” said Price. Understanding of other culture was the drive behind Bentley’s passion for the organization. “He would take some the Japanese men out fishing with some of the older retired men here, and they had in an instant friendship,” Price said. “They accomplished more in 10 minutes than a group of men in suits sitting at a table with piles of paper could accomplish in hours.” Bentley was born on July 5, 1942, in Glenoma. He graduated from Highland High School in Yakima in 1961 as an honor student and earned a degree from Yakima Community College. Bentley married Barbara Johansson of Port Angeles in 1981. He had come to Port Angeles in 1975 to open First Federal Savings & Loan’s east side branch. He worked from 1983 to 1986 as a private business consultant. In 1986, he worked as vice president and an area manager of Sterling Savings in Port Angeles. Beginning in 1991, he served as a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial Services. Bentley was also a member of the Port Angeles Rotary Club.
Peninsula Daily News, February 22, 2007