The first-born son of Harry and Ethel Bennett, he was the runt of the litter. While his eight brothers and sisters had tall, statuesque forms, he was small in size. But as irony would have it, he would prove to be the most successful of the whole lot. Being the eldest of five brothers and raised in poverty, he had to work hard to help his family make ends meet. During his pre-adolescent years, he attended a camp in which he was made to perform odd jobs and whatever income he earned was sent to his parents. It was at this time of his life that he learned the carpentry skills that would become the key to his success. Upon reaching adulthood in the late 30s, he met and fell in love with the woman who would come to be his only wife, Willie Newton. They wed on August 1, 1941, just over four months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Soon afterwards, he was drafted into the Navy and sent to the South Pacific for about four years during World War II. After his military service, he returned to his home in Georgia and began his own construction company. Despite having a mere 4th grade education, his business quickly began to boom. Evidence of this was the fact that he brought in customers not by way of advertising, but by word-of-mouth. His work as a self-employed contractor flourished over the course of three decades, but it came to an abrupt halt in 1976 when he was diagnosed with mouth cancer, forcing him to call it quits. The spreading of the illness claimed him at 59 the next year, leaving behind his wife, two children, and three (later four) grandchildren.
The first-born son of Harry and Ethel Bennett, he was the runt of the litter. While his eight brothers and sisters had tall, statuesque forms, he was small in size. But as irony would have it, he would prove to be the most successful of the whole lot. Being the eldest of five brothers and raised in poverty, he had to work hard to help his family make ends meet. During his pre-adolescent years, he attended a camp in which he was made to perform odd jobs and whatever income he earned was sent to his parents. It was at this time of his life that he learned the carpentry skills that would become the key to his success. Upon reaching adulthood in the late 30s, he met and fell in love with the woman who would come to be his only wife, Willie Newton. They wed on August 1, 1941, just over four months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Soon afterwards, he was drafted into the Navy and sent to the South Pacific for about four years during World War II. After his military service, he returned to his home in Georgia and began his own construction company. Despite having a mere 4th grade education, his business quickly began to boom. Evidence of this was the fact that he brought in customers not by way of advertising, but by word-of-mouth. His work as a self-employed contractor flourished over the course of three decades, but it came to an abrupt halt in 1976 when he was diagnosed with mouth cancer, forcing him to call it quits. The spreading of the illness claimed him at 59 the next year, leaving behind his wife, two children, and three (later four) grandchildren.
