Roseann Bentley

(From Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home)

Roseann Knauer Bentley, community leader, humanitarian, and beloved matriarch of a large family, passed away at her home on Monday, July 14, 2025, after a lifetime of service to others. She was 89 years old.

She was repeatedly elected to the Missouri State Senate from 1995 to 2003, becoming the first woman State Senator from Southwest Missouri. In that position, she chaired the Senate Education Committee and Children’s Services Commission, and was a strong supporter of Parents as Teachers, leading the drive for state funding for Early Head Start, which expanded childhood education opportunities for children across the state.

She served in the State Senate until she was term-limited out of that position. Then, she was quickly elected Greene County Commissioner for several terms from 2004 to 2016, when her family finally convinced her to retire, at age 80.

She began her public-service career in the early 1970s, as a young mother of four, when she helped to found Southwest Missouri’s first PBS television station, Ozarks Public Television, and served as the first president of the Junior League of Springfield. Then she was elected to several terms on the Springfield R-12 Board of Education, eventually becoming its president, as well as president of the Missouri Board of Education and president of the National Association of School Boards.

Despite her soft-spoken demeanor, she broke through barriers during an era when women often were not welcome in leadership positions. During the early days of her career, one Springfield high-school principal publicly called her a “meddling housewife,” an insult that only inspired her to get more involved. Four decades later, in 2016, Springfield Public Schools named its new headquarters and business offices in her honor, the Roseann Bentley District Administrative Center.

Her attitude was summed up by one of her favorite sayings, “If you want to run with the big dogs, you have to get off the porch.”

She won many awards for her public service, including the Springfield Chamber of Commerce’s Springfieldian of the Year in 2003, an award later won in 2016 by her late husband, John Bentley, MD, for his work in establishing the Jordan Valley Community Health Center. In 2011, she was named the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Humanitarian of the Year – an award her husband previously had won in 2002. In 2023, the Springfield-Greene County Park Board named its new play area in Phelps Grove Park, equipped with permanent musical installations, the Roseann Bentley Musical Playground.

 

She was a founding member and past president of the Community Partnership of the Ozarks Board of Directors, and served on the statewide Families and Community Trust, Children’s Mercy Hospital Advisory Board, and the Discovery Center of Springfield Board, as well as serving countless other organizations.

She doted on her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, supported John’s medical and public-service career, traveled the world, organized huge neighborhood celebrations for the Fourth of July and Halloween, hosted a huge annual New Year’s Eve party with John for decades, collected dozens of cow shaped coffee creamers, always dressed immaculately in public but enjoyed lounging at home in sheepskin slippers with a blanket and cat on her lap, and was an avid reader.

In 1958, after marrying John, who was a Navy pilot at the time, she moved with him to Okinawa, Japan, where he was stationed. Their first son was born there. Later, while John was in medical school, she worked as a kindergarten teacher in Philadelphia, to support the family. When John began his medical practice, they returned to Springfield, her hometown, where she started her long career in public service.

But her family always was the most important part of her life. She and John hosted elaborate holiday meals for their huge extended family, with lighted candles on a dozen tables throughout the home. They took their children and grandchildren on trips around the country and world. She was an expert at entrancing young relatives with her patented long-nailed back-scratches. She loved family canoe trips on the James River and houseboat weekends on Tablerock Lake. At every family meal, she made sure there was what she always called a “Prepared Dessert,” whether it was an elaborate souffle from a Martha Stewart cookbook recipe, hand-churned homemade ice cream, or just Oreos. She somehow made time for all of her family members and dozens of friends, and remembered every birthday and anniversary.

Roseann was the cherished daughter of Marcella and Lincoln Knauer. She is survived by her four children, Jeff, Chris, Melissa and Jonathan; their spouses, Julia Griesemer Bentley , Beth Bentley, Robert Allen, and Kunti Senesi Bentley; 12 grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

There aren’t many people like her. People were lucky if they got to know her, have her as their elected representative, count her as their friend, or love her as their wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, in-law, Mom, or Grannie Annie.

The family is very grateful for all of the community’s support of Roseann in her final years. Your visits and friendship meant so much to her. The family would like to especially thank Good Shepherd Hospice and Kirsten Jarvis for their help in caring for Roseann.

Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 am Saturday, July 26, 2025 at St. Agnes Cathedral.