Elizabeth D. Bennett

Elizabeth Dye Sanders Bennett, 85, passed away on November 9, 2017. She was born on September 20, 1932 in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas to parents, Harold Sanders and Willie Hampton. Her older brother, Harold Jr., had polio and her sister, Barbara Jean, was just a baby when her father died when she was 9. Her mother relied on her heavily and she learned at a young age to be business-minded. The family moved to Trumann, Arkansas where her mother had secured employment as the town telephone operator. The switchboard was located in the house they lived in and her mother worked the daytime hours while Elizabeth slept in a cot located by the switchboard, so she could hear when anyone called and needed phone service during the night. She cared for her siblings while her mother worked the switchboard during the day.

She married Clifford Brooks Bennett Jr., of Crab Orchard, West Virginia, a serviceman in the Air Force and traveled the country for the next 20 years. She worked as a civil servant while her husband was in the Air Force, and he joined her as a federal employee after his retirement. They settled in the south, first in Columbus, Mississippi, and then moved to Decatur in the 1990s. They became active members of the Grant Street Church of Christ and remained so until their deaths.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Clifford Brooks Bennett Jr.; her daughter, Sandra Bennett Smith; her parents, and both of her siblings.

She is survived by her daughter, Lynda Bennett Henley (Phil); son, Steven Clifford Bennett (Allison), 6 grandchildren, James Clifford Henley, Michael Brent Henley, Patrick Sean Henley, Anna Smith Grisham, Jessica Marie Bennett, Kristen Brook Bennett; 7 great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at Roselawn Funeral Home, 741 Danville Road, Decatur, AL, on Monday, November 13, 2017. Visitation will be at 10:00 am and the service will follow at 11:00 am.

Pallbearers will be Jim Henley, Michael Henley, Patrick Henley, and Luke Henley.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Grant Street Church of Christ or the Alzheimer’s Foundation.