A memorial for beloved South County School District physical education teacher and musician Arthur P. “Skip” Bement will be held on April 27 at the Hamlet Organic Garden in Brookhaven at 3 p.m.

Bement, who lived in Bellport for over five decades, died in January after a battle with cancer and heart disease. He was 86.

“He was really in Bellport forever,” Jack Licitra, a musician and friend of Bement’s, said. “Like a fixture.”

Licitra helped to organize the memorial along with Taylor Alonso, Jasmine Lee, and Bob Gallo. The three were also friends of Bement’s.

The late Bellport resident possessed several varied passions throughout his life, such as fitness and music.

“You could split him [Bement] into two people,” Licitra noted.

In addition to his job as a physical education teacher, Bement grew up playing football for Ithaca College and was known for jogging around his neighborhood.

“If he didn’t have cancer, he was a sure thing to live to 100,” Licitra said.

In terms of Bement’s musical interests, he was a regular performer at The Bellport Restaurant.

“Skip was one of my first customers,” Alonso, who owns the venue, said.

The Bellport would host live music performances every Thursday, which became known as The Bellport Jam. Bement would open the night regularly.

“He would do a solo for a half an hour,” Alonso said. “It wouldn’t be a good Bellport night without Skip opening.”

Bement was a student of the Piedmont blues guitar style, popularized by musicians such as Blind Blake and Reverend Gary Davis in the 1920s. These musical aspirations have left a lasting impact on those around him. In Licitra’s case, Bement’s desire to learn how to play the guitar set him on a decades-long teaching journey that has continued to this day.

“In 1996, I was just playing as a musician in blues clubs,” Licitra said. “Skip approached me about teaching him music and I would give him an hour lesson every week.”

The two continued these lessons for 26 years. Within that time, Licitra started teaching music to children. He is currently an instructor at South Bay Arts in Sayville.

“I teach a couple 100 students a week,” Licitra said. “It all started with him [Skip]. I built this whole business off of those lessons.”

Bement was also known among his community for spending many summer days aboard his beloved boat.

“He’d be on his boat at 11:15 at the dock,” Alonso said. “It was just like catching a train. Nothing was going to stop him.”

There were no immediate services for Bement following his death in January. The memorial celebration will give Alonso and Licitra, among others, the opportunity to finally honor their friend.

“We are doing this for the closure that this really great man isn’t with us anymore,” Licitra said. “This is a chance for the community to really say goodbye.”

Anthony Johnson is a reporter with The SBU Media Group, part of Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism’s Working Newsroom program for students and local media.