A native of Montgomery County, Virginia, Bentley Hite had a varied and extensive career in law, politics, the military and education.
He graduated from Roanoke College in 1923 with a B.A. degree and went on to receive his L.L.B. from the University of Virginia in 1928. He was an educator and athletic coach for the Montgomery County Public Schools before serving two terms of office as commonwealth's attorney for Montgomery County in the 1930s.
Mr. Hite served with distinction as a commander in the Navy Reserves on multiple assignments during World War II, for which he received commendations, notably for his service in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.
He was a prominent attorney in Christiansburg, Virginia, for 62 years. He also served as president of the Montgomery County, Floyd County and City of Radford Bar Association and in multiple political positions on local, state and national levels for the Republican party. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates for three terms. Governor Linwood Holton appointed Mr. Bentley as trustee for the Jamestown Foundation.
His civic interests included the Rotary Club, Boy Scouts of America, and the Christiansburg Chamber of Commerce. He was an active member of St. Paul United Methodist Church and the Snowville Christian Church, and he was a 60-year member of McDaniel Masonic Lodge.
Mr. Hite gave a great deal of time to his alma mater, serving on the Sections renovation committee, as a class agent for the Roanoke College Giving Fund campaign, and as chairman of Honor Guard reunion activities.
Bentley Hite received the Roanoke College Medal in 1986.