Funeral On Sunday For Canton Man Killed In Boating Accident

CANTON, GA -- Family and friends will gather on Sunday to say goodbye to the man whose body was recovered from Allatoona Lake following a fatal, two-boat collision earlier this month.

The funeral service for Ronnie Bentley, 67, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 at South Canton Funeral Home.

Bentley's family will receive friends and visitors from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25 and from 10 a.m. until the funeral hour on Sunday.

The Canton resident's body was pulled Feb. 19 from the waters of the lake near Little River Marina, the site of the deadly Feb. 2 boating accident that also claimed the life of 51-year-old James Mills of Taylorsville.

The accident was reported just before 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2 to Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services. One fisherman was rescued from the water, but two men remain unaccounted for following the collision.

Mills was found a few hours later, but it took a few more weeks for officials with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division to locate Bentley.

Agency spokesperson Mark McKinnon told Patch the cause of the accident remains under investigation.

According to his obituary, Bentley "loved God and his family first."

"Ronnie loved his church family and enjoyed watching drag racing and fishing," the obit adds.

He is survived by wife, Janet Bentley; mother, Bessie Inez Bentley; son and daughter-in-law, Stephen Paul (Jennifer) Bentley; daughter and son-in-law, Anne Bentley (Michael) Stone; daughter and son-in-law, Ronda (Eddie) Ray; brother, Dennis Bentley; brothers and sisters-in-law, Michael (Teresa) Bentley and Alvin (Loretta) Bentley; sisters and brothers-in-law, Cheryl (Toby) Bates and Yvonne (Richard) Cottrell; and grandchildren, Benjamin Cox, Mandy Cox, Matthew Ray, Emily Ray and Aiyden Stone.

He was preceded in death by his father, Donald "Jack" Bentley; nephew, Samuel Bentley; and father-in-law, John W. Joiner.

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