Jerris Jeraldean “Jack” Bennett
Jerris Jeraldean “Jack” Bennett, was called home to be with the Lord on Monday, July 28, 2025.
Born in 1933, in Carl, WV, Jack was raised on his grandfather’s farm, until he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at the age of 16. After a tour of duty in the Panama Canal Zone, Jack switched branches and joined the U.S. Army, serving in the 11th, 82nd, and 173rd Airborne Divisions, where he accumulated over 200 parachute jumps during his 22-year career.
For his participation in military operations in the Dominican Republic and two tours in Vietnam, Jack was awarded two Bronze Star Medals and the Army Commendation Medal, before retiring at Fort Lee in 1972 as a Chief Warrant Officer.
In June 1955, Jack married his true love for the next 60 years, Betty Lou Dixon, of Rainelle, WV, and raised five children with her. After the Army, he worked at Firestone and Allied Chemical, before becoming a millwright at Phillip Morris’s Park 500 Division, where he retired for a second time.
Jack was an avid sportsman and won trophies for hunting, fishing, billiards, bowling, horseshoes, and golf. In addition, he could not be beaten in any board or card game (especially poker), unless he let you win. In the Tri-Cities community, Jack was a member of the Hopewell Moose Lodge, Hopewell Shrine Club, Dupont Masonic Lodge #298 in Hopewell, and the Fort Lee Golf Club.
He is survived by his son, Roy Bennett (Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps retired), of Raleigh, NC; son, John Bennett (Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Navy retired) and his wife, Dawn, of Hampstead, NC; daughter, Janice Lackey and her husband, Robert (Petty Officer First Class, U.S. Navy retired), of Milledgeville, GA; son, Lee Bennett (Captain, U.S. Navy retired) and his wife, Angela, of Chesapeake, VA; and his second wife, Ruth Ann Bennett, of Durham, NC. In addition, he is survived by twelve grandchildren and twenty-three great-grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Betty; his parents, John Basil Bennett and Rosetta Clementine Sears Bennett, of Rainelle, WV; brother, Huey Eugene Bennett (U.S. Marine Corps, WWII veteran), of Richwood, WV; sister, Louvinia Catherine Bennett Bunn, of Barberton, OH; sister, Eileen Virginia Bennett Kertesz, of Indianapolis, IN; and son, Maynard “Rocky” Bennett (former Petty Officer Second Class, U.S. Navy), of Hopewell.
The family will receive friends on Friday, August 15, 2025, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Hopewell Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 16, 2025, at 11 a.m., at the Hopewell Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home, followed by a graveside service at Sunset Memorial Park in Chester.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Information submitted by J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home of Hopewell, VA.
