The Story of James E. Bennett, Jr.

in his own words

Chapter 11

Rome, GA and Scottsdale, AZ - 1996 to September, 2013
​

The Four Jims - Jim III, Jim Jr., Jim IV, and the baby in front is Jim V - July, 2012

​Note: This chapter was written by Jim's son, Jim III.  

Chapter 10 was the last chapter that Dad wrote, but I thought I would show some highlights from the rest of his story.  ​Being retired allowed more time for family visits and vacations.

From a 1996 visit to see Wayne in Oxford, Ohio. Jim reading to his youngest grandchild, Gentry.

Kathryn with Kathy at the Thomas Kinkade gallery

Kathryn at the Thomas Kinkade gallery, March, 1997 - What's up with this pig?

Dressed up for Easter, 1997 - Jim III, Kathryn, Jackie, and Jim

Kathryn with Wayne's family in December, 1997. Taylor, Kathryn, Chelsea, Michelle, and Gentry.

Wayne with Gentry and Chelsea

In August, 1998, Jim and Kathryn celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  They managed to gather all the children and grandchildren together in Destin, FL for the occasion.

Jim and Kathryn opening their anniversary presents

Kathryn with the 3 children - Jim III, Kathy, and Wayne

All 7 grandchildren - Steven, Jimmy, Jackie, Chelsea, Taylor, Gentry, and Desi - In Florida, August, 1998

The next project that Jim took on was organizing a reunion of the descendants of George Bennett.  George Bennett was Jim's grandfather, who migrated from England to the US in 1868, and settled in Missouri.  Jim's father, James E. Bennett Sr., moved from Missouri to North Carolina and raised his family there.  Some of the children of George Bennett stayed in Missouri and others moved away.  Jim tracked down his cousins, including some that he had never met, and organized a Bennett reunion in August, 2000.

The Bennett reunion was held in Festus, MO, in August, 2000

A crowd of Bennetts at the reunion

The third generation at the Bennett reunion, with their spouses. Jim and Kathryn are at the right, Edith (Jim's sister) and Gene Kirk are next to them, and Jim's sister Gloria is at the left. George Edmund Bennett (with the hat) is in the middle.

The final resting place of George and Mary Ann Bennett, in Festus, MO

We all had a good time at the picnic

Jim at the Bennett reunion picnic

In 2002, Jim decided that he and Kathryn should move into a retirement community.  I'm not sure what caused him to make this decision, but I suspect that Kathryn was starting to show early signs of Alzheimer's disease.  After investigating a number of places, he chose Westminster Village.  Westminster was located in Scottsdale, AZ, near their daughter Kathy, and they moved there in January, 2003.  In these years they still traveled for family visits and special occasions.

Kathryn in our living room at Westminster

Jimmy with mother Chris at UCSD graduation, June 2005

Wayne with Kathy and Ray at Desi's wedding

In 2008, Jim and Kathryn celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.  All of their children and grandchildren were there, and all of Kathryn's brothers came for the occasion as well.

Kathryn's brothers at the anniversary. From left: Ben and Hazeline, Dave and Betty, Jim and Kathryn, Paul and Lib, and Don and Jeanette

Kathryn and Jim with their kids and grandkids

Anniversary cake with original wedding cake picture in background

After their 60th wedding anniversary, Jim and Kathryn mostly stopped traveling.  However they did make it out to San Diego for the wedding of Jimmy and Crystal in 2009.  Kathy was nearby and visited frequently.  Also, Wayne was traveling on work a lot around this time and would stop by on his trips.  I had retired in 2007 and also started to visit more often.

Jim was especially pleased when his great-grandson, James Edward Bennett, V, came to visit (picture of the four Jims at the top).  He showed the baby around to his friends and to the staff, telling them all that he was Jimmy the fifth.

Front: Kathy, Kathryn, and Jim - Back: Jim III, Wayne, and Wayne's daughter Chelsea - In San Diego after the wedding of Jimmy (Jim IV) and Crystal in March, 2009

Jim, Wayne, and Kathy visiting at the same time - In the apartment at Westminster in 2011.

Kathryn was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease a few years after they moved into Westminster Village.  Her condition was mild at first, but it got progressively worse.  Jim was her caretaker, while he also had to deal with health issues of his own.  Among these were multiple myeloma and a leaky heart valve.  His doctors even considered a heart operation at one time, but had to drop that idea because the chemotherapy for his multiple myeloma had made his condition too weak for surgery.  Eventually he could no longer manage to care for Kathryn and arranged for her to transfer to the Weyrich health center at Westminster.

In September, 2013, just after Kathryn's transfer was complete, Jim passed away.  His daughter Kathy found him collapsed in his chair when she came to visit the next day.  As Kathy remarked at the time, it seemed as if he had completed his responsibilities and was ready to let go.

At the time that I am writing this, in May of 2020, Jim's wife Kathryn is still alive and residing in the Weyrich health center.  She will turn 95 years old on October 14.  Jim's sister Gloria is also still alive.  Jim has 16 descendants: three children, seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren, with a seventh on the way.