"Bereaved" vs. "bereft"

I saw the sentence below, and I think it would sound better after changing "bereaved" to "bereft":

Having lost his father in early childhood, he was bereaved of his love and affection.

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary definitions of bereaved and bereft are:

bereaved (adjective): having lost a relative or close friend who has recently died

bereft (adjective): bereft of something completely lacking something; having lost something

The distinction may become clearer if the sentence is rephrased as,"Having been bereaved in early childhood, he remained bereft of fatherly love and affection.

Using "bereft" should be better. As the focus of this sentence is the lost of his father's love and affection but not his dad.