Alice Rebecca (Lynd) Bennett

Alice was born in Lawrence County Ohio on June 12, 1918, and passed away peacefully on December 12, 2021 at the Veteran’s Home in Bennington, Vermont. She was the daughter of Haskell and Millie (Moore) Lynd and was the oldest of eight children: Garland, Freda, Garnet, Evelyn, Bill, Melba and Betty. Predeceased by mother and father, and siblings Freda, Melba, Evelyn, Melba, Bill, Garland and Betty. She was a member of the Solida Missionary Baptist Church growing up and attended public schools and Bliss Business College. She was employed by the Ohio Tax Commission and in 1944 enlisted in the U.S. Navy, (WAVES). She was sent to Hunter College for basic training followed by yeoman’s training at Oklahoma A&M College. Upon completion of her training, she reported for duty at the Gulfport training base in Mississippi where she advanced to Chief Yeoman, working under the commanding officer. It was here that she met her future husband, Gerald Irving Bennett, who was also serving in the Navy at the base. Alice served in the military until August 1946. She married Gerald I. Bennett (deceased 1975) upon his discharge from the Navy on June 21, 1947, and they moved to western New York where “Jerry” was a physical education instructor at Westfield High School for five years. He left there to take a job with Nationwide Insurance in White Plains, New York. The couple eventually settled in Carmel, N.Y., having three boys along the way—Jon , and twins, Thomas, and Timothy . Jon married Roberta and has two daughters, Martha and Grace. Tim married Veronique and they have a daughter, Alicia, and two sons, Samuel, and Jonathan. Great grandchildren: Martha and Aaron Schue have two sons, Darcy and Dev. Alicia and Jason Delperuto have four sons—Xavier, Cameron, Tucker, Isaiah, and two daughters, Desiree, and Alexa. Samuel and Mary have two boys, Christian and Elliot, and two girls, Trinity, and Abigail. Alice moved to Bennington in 1993 and bought a townhouse condo at Nathaniel Court. She was active in the condo association throughout her time there and served as its president from 2002-2009. She formed many lasting relationships among the residents. Bill and Rose Wolf and Toni Roan were among her special friends. She was also active in RSVP and a proud member of Green Mountain WAVES Unit 109, serving as its president for four years. Among her special trips, she attended her son Tim’s wedding in Belgium with her sister-in-law, Helen Bennett, in 1985, and took the Veteran’s Memorial Flight to Washington D.C., with her son Jon, in 2014, to visit the WW II monuments with other veterans. Alice enjoyed playing bridge for pennies and keeping in touch with friends and family on Facebook. Her family could always count on receiving birthday and holiday cards from her (always early) and her affectionate words—most of the time accompanied with a little check! Alice’s gentle manner, compassion, laugh, and unconditional love will be sorely missed by her family and friends. Her surviving sister Garnet and her family are in our thoughts and prayers. We want to give special thanks to her cousins Anne Clark and Barbara Dowd who have been so caring and attentive over the years. Contributions in her memory may be made to: Bennington Rescue Squad National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) Cancer Society Vermont Veteran’s Home c/o Hanson Walbridge & Shea Funeral Home PO box 957 Bennington, VT 05201. A celebration of her life will be held at Shea Family Funeral Home Bennington on Saturday December 18 at 2 pm. COVID Precautions will be in place and masks are requested for all.