Former Latin and French Teacher, fondly known as 'Miss Bates', passed away on 26 November 2019 after a short illness in Christchurch; in her 100th year. Below is an informal memoir written by former student Penny Griffith (1955 - 1959).

To us she has really always been "Miss Bates".  Judy Bentley (1920 - 2019) began her teaching career at Wellington Girls' College in the year I was born (1943), and she taught there for 18 years before going to Christchurch to teach at Burnside High, then a fairly new school.

For those of us who took Latin at Wellington Girls' College, she was our teacher for five years, and our form teacher in the 5th form year (Year 11).  She also taught us French one year.  Those of us who enjoyed languages remember we respected her as an excellent teacher, one who was firm and fair and never had any difficulty with discipline.  We enjoyed meeting up with her at several class and school reunions over the decades.

Judy lived in Christchurch most of her life, married to Leo, and in her retirement she enjoyed friends and family, gardening, playing bridge, reading and doing jigsaws, crosswords and other puzzles.  After I moved to the mainland I started to visit her a couple of times a year, sometimes with other classmates and friends and so it grew into an easy friendship which I will miss.  She liked to hear what the classmates were up to and brought me up to date on the rugby.  She always backed the Crusaders and All Blacks and was pleased the Lions didn't win the 2019 World Cup!

Right to the end her wits were sharp, her sense of humour undeterred and her independence valiantly retained in the face of increasing need for physical assistance from others, due to her worn-out knees that caused so much pain.  So, after nearly 65 years since we first met, ave atque vale, Miss Bates.