A Drumheller area man’s hope for others fighting the pain of arthritis prompted him to give an incredible gift to those suffering from the disease.
Bent Peters was never known to have an outgoing personality, in fact, quiet may be the descriptor most used to characterize him. He passed away in April 2013, and has gifted a large part of his estate to the Arthritis Society. In the area of $850,000 has been gifted to the organization. While Cindy Stephen, communications manager for the Arthritis Society, Alberta North West Territories Division has never met Bent, she said stories of him have left an impression.
“What came across to me is that he lived in hope,” said Stephen.
His younger brother Fleming agrees with her assessment, and he has been working with lawyer John Sparling to settle Bent’s estate and make this gift a reality.
Bent was born in 1930 and was the second of four children of Ferdinand Peters and Mary Krogh, both immigrants from Denmark who met and married in the Dalum area.
Bent received his early schooling at the Nickel Spring School and studied for one year at Drumheller High School.
He worked as a farm hand and a miner. He also drove truck for Dalum Corner Services for 14 years.
Bent went on to trying his hand at farming and leased land in the Wintering Hill area. He worked the land for 17 years and retired in 1985.
At the age of 55, he had been suffering from the pain of arthritis for a number of years, and it was one of the deciding factors for him to stop farming.
While he was heavily medicated to relieve some of the pain of his arthritis, he continued to find pleasure in his motorboat, fishing in Crawling Valley, and he enjoyed making toys out of steel. Fleming said his brother would weld scale models of farming equipment with the greatest of detail. Fleming said Dr. Crawford, a specialist in Calgary did a lot to help Bent cope with his arthritis.
Bent moved to Drumheller in 1985 and then into continuing care at the Drumheller Health Centre in 2009.
Bent never married or had children, and according to his brother, Fleming, kept to himself. Despite a solitary demeanor, this donation shows his altruism.
“He had no kids, so he said, maybe it will do some good for someone else,” said Fleming. “It is for research, there is no cure, but maybe it can make it a little more comfortable for other people.”
Shirley Philips, executive director for the Arthritis Society for Alberta and the Northwest Territories was struck by the generosity of Bent and is hopeful that this kind of gesture could send a message to others on the difference this type of donation can make.
She explains it is fitting because Bent suffered for many years, that some of the funding would go to juvenile research. Much of this work is being done in Calgary and at Sick Kids in Toronto.
The funds could also go to support programs such as Arthritis 101, a program for newly diagnosed patients.
