Chester Arthur “Chet” Bennett, Jr., M.D. FACA, born August 14, 1937, in Strasburg, Ohio, died September 20, 2024. Son of the late Chester A. Bennett, Sr., M.D. and Ruby Donnan Davis Bennett, R.N. Survived by loving wife of 36 years, Marcia, son John David and his wife Anita Bennett, grandchildren Andrew, Lauren, John William, and Nathan Bennett, brother, David, step-son, Joseph Chavarria, in-laws Thom Parzinger, Cheryl and Jim Miller, Linda and Pat Park and Michele Shepard, many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Preceded in death by infant son Jeffery Alan Bennett, brother John Howard Bennett and former wife, Sandra K. Burns.
The family moved from Strasburg to Dover, Ohio, in the summer of 1942. Chet graduated from Dover High School in 1955. He was a catcher for the Dover High School baseball team, the Dover American Legion Post 205 team, and Dover’s team in the summer Tri County Baseball League.
Chet received his BA degree in Pre-Med from Ohio University in 1959 where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi social fraternity and Eta Sigma Phi, Classical Languages Honorary. He graduated from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1963 followed by a rotating internship at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus. In 1966, he completed a residency program in Anesthesiology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. After three years in the Air Force Reserves, Chet served three years, 1966-1969, active duty in the United States Air Force at the 401st Tactical Air Command Hospital at Torrejon de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain, where he qualified for the small-arms Expert Marksmanship Medal. The 401st TAC was the reactivation of the 40st Bombardment Group stationed at Deenethorpe, England during WWII. This was the same unit Chet’s uncle, J.H. Davis, had served in during WWII. In 1968, Chet was the catcher for the hospital’s fast pitch softball team that won the Torrejon Air Base championship, where he caught four seven-inning games over two days. Chet was the recipient of two winning game balls from the team pitcher.
While Chet was on-call in the emergency room of the 401st TAC hospital, he received a call from Labor and Delivery requesting a physician with experience in delivering babies. During Chet’s training at Riverside Hospital, he delivered/assisted in nearly 100 deliveries. Chet went to OB and delivered the baby. Two days later, he received a call from one of three fighter squadrons that the OB patient was the spouse of a fighter pilot. Chet was offered a ride in the back seat of an Fl00 fighter jet for a skip bombing/dive bombing range mission over Northern Spain. Chet calls this ride one of the highlights of his Air Force career.
Returning to the private practice of anesthesiology in 1969, Chet worked for what would become the Midwest Physicians Anesthesia Service. For fifteen years Chet served as Medical Director of the Riverside Outpatient Surgery Center until his retirement in 1997.
In 1973, Chet and Dr. Jerome Gautier traveled to the Cleveland Clinic to assess the clinic’s procedure for open-heart surgery anesthesia. They were members of the original Riverside Hospital open-heart surgery team.
Due to his son’s interest in hockey, Chet devoted much time and effort to the Columbus Amateur Hockey Association in the 1970s serving as manager of travel teams. Over the years, Chet enjoyed tennis, snow skiing, gardening, and water color painting, studying with Leland McClellan. Chet and Marcia travelled extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, South and Central America and especially enjoyed many cruises with Holland America Lines.
Chet was interested in numismatics, genealogy and history, especially of the American Civil War. This interest led, after over twenty years of research, to the publication of “Resolute Rebel: General Roswell S. Ripley, Charleston’s Gallant Defender,” by the University of South Carolina Press. This is the only complete biography of the Confederate general born in Worthington, Ohio. Chet’s maternal great-grandfather served in Company A, 1st South Carolina Artillery, defending Charleston under Ripley’s command. His paternal great-grandfather’s brothers, David and Daniel, served in the 62nd Ohio Vol. Infantry attacking Charleston. Daniel was mortally wounded and is buried in the Beaufort National Cemetery, Beaufort. SC. Chet was a member of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and Sons of Confederate Veterans. Chet started the Roswell Ripley Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Central Ohio. Chet received approval from the Ohio Historical Society to erect a historical marker delicate to Brigadier General Roswell Sabin Ripley, CSA, marking Ripley’s birthplace in Worthington, Ohio.
A visitation will be held on Sunday, September 29, 2024, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Schoedinger Dublin, 5980 Perimeter Drive, Dublin, Ohio 43017. A memorial service will be held on Monday, September 30, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. at Schoedinger Dublin with a visitation immediately following until 5:00 p.m.
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