Mary Jane Rummel Bente, BHS 1949

Mary Jane Rummel Bente, BHS 1949

April 1, 1931 – December 14, 2019

Mary Jane Bente, 88, of Burbank, passed away Saturday, December 14, 2019 surrounded by her family, and joining her loving husband of over 50 years, Wayne Francis Bente, who passed February 8, 2016.

Mary Jane was born to the late Elmer Jacob Rummel and Estella Evelyn Lister, on April 1, 1931 in Glendale, California. Mary Jane graduated from Burbank High School and attended Glendale Community College.

Mary Jane and Wayne spent the last 33 years in Northern California where they built a cabin in Hayfork surrounded by horses, lambs, chickens and a garden Wayne loved so much. They then moved to Shingletown and made lots of friends they called extended family, and then after some health issues moved to Paris Park in Redding, California. There they had a community of friends who played cards, had pot luck dinners and who looked out for each other. Mary Jane truly missed her friends there.

Mary Jane and Wayne were foster parents and received recognition from the Shasta County Board of Supervisors and Shasta County Department of Social Services for Foster Parents of the Year in 2007. Mary Jane also received a Certificate of Appreciation for 35 years of service to the Burbank Emblem Club #86 in 2012. Mary Jane and Wayne were active donors to BCR A Place to Grow founded in 1963 by her sister, Ruth Caughey, for Mary Jane’s developmentally disable daughter, Vicki Lea. Vicki lived in Redding, until she moved back to Burbank in 2011. Mary Jane and Wayne both loved to travel in their Bounder motorhome and going on various cruises. Mary Jane was an active member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Burbank and was blessed by the community there.

Mary Jane is survived by six children: Charlene Jane Strickhouser of Mojave; Rachelle Evelyn Giliberto of Santa Clarita, Laurie Beth Roan and her husband, Dusty, of Hemet; Linda Sue Curtin of Burbank; Vicki Lea Williams of Burbank; and Michael Wayne Bente and his wife, Robin, of Priest, Idaho, as well as two sons, Lynn Arthur McFall and Reed Wayne Bente who are both deceased. She is also survived by 17 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren, with another great-grandbaby boy due at the end of the month, and her beloved service dog, Millie.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to the American Cancer Society Relay for Life Burbank, Team Hope. A Celebration of Life and Resurrection, for both Mary Jane and Wayne, will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at 10am at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 542 N Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California 91505.