Ruth Bennett

Ruth Harris Bennett died on Wednesday, October 7, 2015. Ruth was born in Jacksonville, Florida on February 12, 1927 to John and Ruth Head Harris. She attended Lee High School, Stuart Hall in Staunton, Virginia, and graduated from Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina. Afterwards, she spent a year at Sweet Briar in Lynchburg, Virginia before transferring to the University of Miami for a year. Art school in New York City followed and she moved into the Barbizon Hotel for Women. When she finished the summer program, she got a job at Radio City Music Hall. That’s when her father decided it was time for her to come home! Teachers were scarce after the war, so Ruth taught Jr. High School Science, then enjoyed some time working for Eastern Airlines at the old Imeson Airport.

Marriage to Wally Bennett came next. They were married for sixty-six years until his death earlier this year. The Bennetts lived in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for several years before moving to Delray Beach, Florida, where she opened a bookstore called The Book House. They returned to Jacksonville in 1965. Ruth stayed busy raising four children, but never stopped going to school. She earned a real estate license, took accounting and computer courses, and graduated from Jacksonville University at the age of fifty-four with a degree in History and Education.

Ruth was a compassionate and devoted lover of animals. She always seemed to be in the process of

nursing one back to health. To be cared for by Ruth Bennett was a dream come true for injured animals. She raised an owl from birth and an opossum from infancy, fed a flock of ducks every day, and always had a dog or three.

All Ruth’s family and friends knew her as a kind and generous person who never minded stopping what

she was doing to help or visit with someone in need. She loved people, nature, reading, and traveling whenever she could. More than anything, Ruth was fun. Her children will miss her wonderful sense of humor and her endless ideas for entertainment. Halloween will never be the same as she always dressed as a witch, had a broomstick, a black cauldron full of “poisoned” apples, and wonderful presents wrapped in orange and black crepe paper. So many children would come to their house in Delray Beach that policemen were needed to direct traffic.

Ruth is predeceased by her husband, Wallace Mitchell Bennett, her daughter Susan Poore, and her sister, Julia Harris L’Engle. She is survived by her daughters, Bonnie Maddox (Stephen), and Mary Anna Gerrard (Neal), her son Wallace Mitchell Bennett, Jr. (Laurie), and son-in-law Larry Poore. She is survived by twelve grandchildren, Mary Halsey de Idiaquez (Diego), Mitchell Maddox, Marston Maddox (Anna), and Bennett Maddox; Meredith Burroughs (Ed), Larry Poore, Jr., and John Poore; Trey Bennett (Haleigh) and Rick Bennett; Graham Gerrard, Virginia Robertson (Walt), and Grant Gerrard. She is also survived by six great-grand children, Taylor Taylor (Ben), Abby Rogers, Brooke Rogers, and Julia Rogers; Alsonso de Idiaguez and Virginia de Idiaquez. In addition, she is survived by one great-great-grandchild, Hayden Mitchell, and her niece Frances L’Engle Moulder.

There will be a private family burial at 10:30 a.m. at Evergreen Cemetery on Saturday, October 10th, followed by a memorial service at Moosehaven Chapel in Orange Park at 3:30 p.m. Visitation will be from 2:30-3:30 p.m.

If so desired, memorials may be made to the Humane Society at 8464 Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida 32216.