Tamara Renee Bennett 1970 - 2018

BENNETT

Posted By: Connie Swearingen -Volunteer (email)
Date: 11/5/2018 at 22:11:26

Sioux City Journal
29 August 2018

Coos Bay, Ore., formerly Sioux City

Tamara Renee Bennett, 48, of Coos Bay, formerly of Sioux City, passed away way too soon and way too young on July 31, 2018 at Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay, with her mother, father, and son by her side.

Memorial services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Christian Church in Moorhead, Iowa. Arrangements are under the care of North Bend Chapel in Coos Bay. Friends and family are encouraged to sign the online guestbook at www.coosbayareafunerals.com.

Tamara was born premature on Feb. 23, 1970, in Onawa, Iowa, to Barbara and Edwin Bennett. Her parents divorced when she was 5-years-old. Tamara has a son, Shannon Patrick Bennett who was born May 22, 1993. Tamara also had a brother, Brian (Dec. 14, 1972 – Dec. 18, 1994).

Tamara went to school in San Diego and Los Angeles, Calif. through high school. Education was always an important part of Tamara's life. Tamara loved San Diego and was not happy in Los Angeles, causing her to quit high school. She later got her general education diploma, then went on to get her associate’s degree and her bachelor’s degree in Iowa.

Tamara worked very hard, sometimes with two or three jobs at a time to support herself and her son and attending college. She taught English as a Second Language (ESL). Tamara went on to social work at Jackson Recovery in Sioux City. Later, Tamara felt that it was better to provide alcohol and drug prevention to avert problems before they occurred. She was asked to teach prevention in several counties around Sioux City including invitations to speak at the military base in the area where she educated military personnel. She was born to teach, it was in her blood and she did it very well. She loved and cared for people, especially the downtrodden, or those that she felt were left out and diminished in life. She was kind and loving toward those that had difficulties and tried to help them move forward in life.

Tamara found out she had cancer that metastasized in September 2016, after an extended period with a bad cough. She started chemotherapy and radiation and found to be cancer free in March 2017, at which time she moved to Oregon to live on the coast with her mother and father. In July 2018 she was diagnosed with cancer again; however it had spread even further.

Tamara always had a great work ethic and passed this on to her son who now lives in Oregon.

Tamara is survived by her mother, Barbara Cornell; father, Charles Cornell; son, Shannon Patrick Bennett, all of Oregon; aunt, Rosemary Nichols; uncle, Thomas DeLance; and cousins, Thomas, Scott, Julie, Tyler, Kylee, Kimberly, Teri, Devon, and Garrett, from Iowa. She has an extended family living in Iowa.

She was preceded in death by her grandmother, Margaret Eleanor (Hamman) DeLance; grandfather, Lyle Darrel DeLance; brother, Brian Bennett; aunt, Joni Knutson; and her birth father, Edwin Bennett.