Nellie Elizabeth Bennett's Obituary
Nellie Elizabeth Clark Bennett, 97, passed away February 20th, 2025 after a brief illness.
The only child of William Clark and Lillie Loden Clark, Nellie was born on December 20th, 1927, in
Dallas, Texas.
Nellie was preceded in death by her husband of 40 years, James Carl Bennett.
Nellie is survived by her three children Carl Eugene Bennett, Catherine Elizabeth Murphy and
son-in-law Mel Murphy, Charles Edward Bennett and daughter-in-law Keri Bennett, as well as
grandchildren Christen Elizabeth Davidson, Casey Lynn Davidson, Grayson Clark Bennett, and Collin
Reid Bennett.
Nellie was sharp until the end of her 97 years with a memory that reached back to growing up in Oak
Cliff, taking a streetcar downtown to watch Shirley Temple movies, and graduating from Sunset High
School in 1945. A member of the Good Scholarship Club, her intellect was just as sharp as her
memory, and she always had a head for numbers. She was such a master at sudoku, that when the
family bought her new puzzle books, they had to make sure they were challenging enough. Just last
year, she did her own taxes and sent it to the CPA “just to double check.” When she wasn’t running
tape on her adding machine, she exercised her creativity. She sewed, cross stitched, crocheted, and
made intricately beaded Christmas ornaments.
After high school, Nellie earned a Medical Secretary degree and worked in a doctor’s office. There,
thanks to a sore throat, she met her future husband, James. Married in 1953, they moved five times
for James’ role with Texas Power & Light. Nellie created a home and made friends wherever they
landed. While her husband, James, sang in the Methodist choir, Nellie readily admitted that she
“couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket” and was happy to simply enjoy the music.
In her role as mom, her 3 kids, Carl, Cathy, and Charlie, never had to doubt that she would be in the
audience at all of the dance recitals and halftime band and drill team performances. During their
college years, she was the popular mom who always packed a cooler of food, brought dozens of
homemade chocolate chip cookies, and fed the whole dorm. All the students knew when Mrs. Bennett
showed up, they would eat well for days. Along with the food, and maybe more importantly, she
brought a sense of comfort to the homesick students who weren’t lucky enough to have her as their
mom.
Later, when she became a grandma 4 times over, she didn’t just babysit her grandkids, she was
“camp grandma.” She played with Christen, Casey, Grayson, and Collin down on the floor with
Lincoln logs, tinker toys, crafts, Polly Pockets, paper airplanes, pivot pool, play doh, and bouncy balls.
With a school playground just down the block, they went on walks and collected leaves for crafts. She
let them play in the sprinklers, plant flowers in the beds, and taught them how to sew and cross-stitch.
The kids learned to use her record player, and they listened to LPs on the console stereo that
entertained Nellie’s own kids years before. She happily watched Free Willy dozens of times, and filled
the grandkids full of mac and cheese, nutter butters, and sugared strawberries. In her words, “Those
were the fun days.”
Thanksgivings, Christmases, and Easters featured slideshows from their travels followed by Nellie’s
exceptional family dinners. She planned everything in advance, prepped and chopped for days, and
made special jello eggs for the grandkids. The table was always filled with platters and dishes that the
family couldn’t possibly finish. It was common for more than one of them to end up snoring in a
recliner. After the naps, she happily parceled out the leftovers, and much like the dorm students, the
family ate well for days.
Crafting, puzzling, watching baseball, and reading have been Nellie’s pastimes in the past few years.
She couldn’t be bothered with dry history books. Instead, she liked stories about senior citizens who
broke the rules and misbehaved. She commented that her retirement apartment neighbors didn’t
have much of a sense of humor, and she thought she should “liven the place up.” She wore silly
holiday headbands and even a turkey hat for Thanksgiving, all accompanied by her mischievous
smile. That smile, by the way, was made up of all of her own teeth.
Nellie will be remembered for her meticulous record keeping, steel trap memory, and impeccable
handwriting. More importantly, though, she will be remembered for her love and kindness,
compassion and care, and selfless contributions to her family. If she were here, she would tell you to
put on a silly hat and have some fun.
What’s your fondest memory of Nellie?
What’s a lesson you learned from Nellie?
Share a story where Nellie's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Nellie you’ll never forget.
How did Nellie make you smile?