BENNETT, Nelle Harriet 1925 - 2015

BENNETT, DAWSON, POLLOCK

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 10/4/2015 at 14:46:10

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Page 8

Nelle Harriet BENNETT

Nelle Harriet BENNETT, 90, of Toledo, passed away on September 18, 2015 at Premier Estates of Toledo from complications of a stroke.

A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at 11:00 AM at the First Presbyterian Church in Toledo with Pastor Doug Darnold officiating. Private Interment will be held at Memorial Lawn Cemetery in Ottumwa (note: in Wapello Co., IA). A Memorial Visitation will be held Wednesday, October 7, 2015, from 10:00 AM until the time of service at the church.

Nelle was born on March 15, 1925. She was the only child of older parents, Ray and Jennie (DAWSON) POLLOCK of Hedrick, Iowa. Her parents had both been teachers, and as such, valued education. After she went as far as she could go in the one-room schoolhouse near the family farm, she was sent to live with relatives in order to be educated in town. Later she attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. In her two years at Antioch, she alternated semesters of school with work study in Detroit, New York City and New Haven, Connecticut, where she interned at the Lila Day Nursery School, a precursor to modern early childhood education. She returned to Iowa to finish her bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Iowa in 1947.

After college she met and married Burdett BENNETT, who had returned from four years in England in the Army Air Corps to farm in southeastern Iowa. Between 1952 and 1959 they had five sons. In 1966 the family moved to Toledo when Burdett had an opportunity to advance in the Soil Conservation Service. Her husband died in 1969, leaving her to raise the boys.

Nelle stayed active in community life. She headed the Toledo Arts Council, and one of her proudest accomplishments was the installation of the Cow Calf sculpture at the intersection of Highways 63 and 30.

She served as a deacon of the Presbyterian Church, where she was a member for nearly fifty years and edited the church newsletter for two decades. She traveled frequently, visiting Japan, Yugoslavia and Ireland. She painted in water color and oils, and wrote short stories and poetry, which was frequently published in Lyrical Iowa.

She is survived by her sons Timothy (Leigh), Christoher, Steven, Samuel (Joy) and Matthew, and by her grandchildren Sean, Christopher, Emily and David. Her sons remember her for imbuing them with a love of the arts and encouraging them to follow their passions.

Memorial gifts can be directed to the First Presbyterian Church in Toledo.

Kruse-Phillips Funeral Home, Tama-Toledo is assisting the family with arrangements.

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

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