|
|
|
|
Register staffer, community friend dies suddenly |
|
|
Wednesday, 10 June 2009 |
 Dorothy “Dottie” Bennett By Darcy Ellis
Editor
6-9-09 The Inyo Register lost one of its own, and the communities of Inyo and Mono counties lost a treasured friend, with the unexpected passing Friday of longtime Chalfant Valley resident and Register advertising sales representative Dottie Bennett.
Born March 2, 1949, Bennett died Friday evening, June 5, at Northern Inyo Hospital in Bishop after a short illness.
Her death comes as a shock not only to her closest survivor, son Robert Maulding, currently serving in the U.S. Navy, but also her coworkers and the numerous friends she leaves behind from Benton to Lone Pine and points beyond.
“Dottie’s passing is a shock to everyone in the extended Inyo Register newspaper family,” Publisher Dave Balcom said Monday. “Dottie was an asset to the newspaper, her friends and her clients throughout the region. She’ll be sorely missed.”
Services for Bennett were still pending at press time Monday, though it’s expected a memorial service will be held later this week at Calvary Baptist Church in Bishop, which Bennett had attended for the past 3-4 years.
In the wake of Bennett’s passing, her family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and even business contacts have expressed, along with their initial shock and grief, a gratitude for having had the opportunity to know, love and work with or alongside her.
Bennett was, according to those who spoke to the Register Monday, a class act, plain and simple; the type of woman who, armed with an unshakable moral code and strong sense of personal ethics, always put the needs of others before her own and made her word her absolute bond.
“She was a lot better person than I’ll ever be,” said good friend Carol Ishii. “She cared and worried about people all the time. She was a very, very giving person. A lot of people didn’t see that side of her. She worried more about other people than she did herself, and never complained about how hard her life was.”
Ishii, who attended Calvary Baptist with Bennett, recalls one time in particular when her friend, who was known to struggle financially after the death of her husband, Pat, in 2001, found a $10 bill and instead of keeping it, donated the money to the church’s Benevolent Fund.
Bennett’s explanation was that she was sure there were people out there who needed more than she did. “She needed it,” Ishii said. “But that’s just the kind of person she was.”
On another occasion, Ishii had gone to Southern California on a trip and fallen too ill to get back to Bishop. Bennett offered to drive all the way down there to pick Ishii up and bring her back home. “And that wasn’t just Dottie saying something to be nice,” Ishii said. “If she said it, she meant it.
“People always came first with Dottie,” Ishii continued. “If she saw a way to help, she’d do it.”
Terri Conrad, who met Bennett in 1989 when Conrad was working at the Mo-Mart on Bishop’s Main Street, considered Bennett her best and dearest friend, and considers herself blessed for having had Bennett in her life.
“Dorothy was the kind of friend you hope you will find, and I was lucky that she was mine,” Conrad said. “She had a wonderful sense of humor and could always make me laugh. Dorothy was very kind and loyal to all who knew her.”
Like Ishii, Conrad recalled Bennett as a friend who always put others first, as someone who was compassionate and generous with her time, counsel and support.
“She was there for me through all the good times and bad, through the laughter and tears,” Conrad said. “I’m going to miss her so much.”
Friends and colleagues also mentioned how Bennett’s gruff exterior belied her true personality.
Though Bennett could be tough as nails when needed, most friends described her as a big softy – who was especially fond of animals and children.
“Her dog Nicki – she just absolutely loved her,” Ishii said.
Colleagues at the Register remember Bennett always being among the first to greet or bring in treats for another employee’s visiting pet, or to fawn over a new baby or grandchild, treating each new addition like her own family.
Bennett has also been described as bit of a renaissance woman, having lived a remarkably full life that included a wide variety of vocations and locales.
The Eastern Sierra Certified Farmers Market that so many residents and visitors enjoy during the summer months owes its existence to Bennett and friend Ralph Worthing, who planted the seed for the very first market almost 20 years ago and helped it grow into the beloved tradition it is today.
Bennett served as the market’s first president, and contributed homegrown vegetables and fruit from the trees that grew on the 10 acres she and Pat owned in Chalfant Valley.
According to current Eastern Sierra Certified Farmers Market President Jacque Osborn, who took over for Bennett after the first three or four years, she was admired as much for her green thumb as for her enterprising spirit, can-do attitude and generosity.
“She was very helpful,” Osborn said. “There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for you.”
Bennett’s involvement in the Farmers Market pretty much stopped after Pat’s death, when tending to the 10 acres became too much for Bennett on her own.
But that didn’t put an end to the friendships she developed through the enterprise, with Osborn, who often enjoyed lunches with Bennett over the years, or with the local gardening community.
Bennett was well-liked in particular at Bishop Nursery, where she has known many of the long-time employees for 20-plus years.
She also handled the nursery’s advertising account for the Register.
Wayne Hinkel, Bishop Nursery manager, said the employees were “very saddened” to hear of Bennett’s passing, as she had been “a great friend and supporter for a long time.”
Hinkel said, beyond her friendship, Bennett was a helpful and reliable advertising representative who will be missed.
“We’re usually running around all crazy trying to get something together and she’s always very patient and helpful, offering ideas,” Hinkel said. “I was always amazed at how patient she was.”
A common thread to the stories shared Monday about Bennett is how she often started off as merely an acquaintance or business contact or colleague, and became a lifelong friend.
Kate Bolenbaugh, owner of Friendly Persuasion, recalls meeting Bennett through her job as an advertising sales rep for the Register. Bennett would come in to sell ads at the various places of business where Bolenbaugh worked, and over the years the two became good pals.
“She was a loving, nice, kind person,” Bolenbaugh said. “If you ever needed a helping hand, even if she didn’t feel well, she showed up to help.
“She will be greatly missed in this community.”
Bolenbaugh was one of several friends who enjoyed frequent breakfasts and lunches with Bennett at either Back Alley Bowl or Village Cafe – Bennett’s favorite local eateries.
If she wasn’t eating breakfast or lunch at one, she was at the other.
Village Cafe owners Bob and Karen Warbington said they had grown quite close to Bennett over the past five years that they’ve owned the restaurant, and considered Bennett “more than just a customer.
“She was a dear friend,” Karen said. “She was a wonderful lady, very kind and loved by everyone.”
It was at Village Cafe, by the way, that Bennett met Ishii, when Ishii offered to share her table during a particularly busy service.
“We used to call it our ‘Mental Health Day,’” Ishii said of her Village Cafe lunches with Bennett. “It’s like family over there.”
Karen said Bennett usually ate with good friends Ishii, Eva and “Bear,” but if she was by herself, she enjoyed sitting on the patio by the fountain.
According to Karen, Bennett will “absolutely” be missed.
Over at the Back Alley, where Bennett has played in various bowling leagues over the years and developed many lasting friendships, news of her passing was cause for tears Monday morning.
Manager Dee Taylor said a lot of the patrons have known Bennett for more than 20 years, and are always glad to see her.
“She was gruff on the outside but soft on the inside,” Taylor said. “And very proud of her son.”
“She was kind of like part of our family,” said Jackie Flesia, who along with husband Tom has owned Back Alley Bowl for the past 10 years. “Her son grew up here and he used to work here, too.
“She was very well-liked here. As people hear what happened, they break down,” Flesia continued. “She was very sweet, very loving, very giving. Dottie was a good friend of ours, a good friend to all the employees. We already miss her.”
Mike Martin, press foreman for The Inyo Register from 1994 until his retirement in 2006, bonded with Bennett on the job and remained good friends with her after leaving the newspaper.
They, too, enjoyed many lunches together, both at her favorite Bishop eateries and at her Chalfant Valley home, where the two continued to bond over the remnants from Dottie and Pat’s former heavy equipment repair business, Bennett Enterprises.
“One of the many things Dottie and I had in common was old cars – she’s got an old Studebaker sitting out back of her place,” Martin said. “She worked with her husband (for years) so she got her hands dirty before moving into advertising. She was a very interesting person – had a very interesting and wide background and because of it she could talk to anybody, anytime about anything.”
Bennett used to run a pet store, for instance, before she met Pat and moved to the Eastern Sierra, he said.
“You could spend two, three, four hours talking to Dottie about just about anything,” Martin said. “I’m going to miss her. I was always up for a lunch date with Dottie when I needed someone to talk to.”
Martin also recalled how well-known Bennett seemed to be.
“She knew so many people,” he said. “We’d be sitting at lunch and half the people who came in would wave to her and she’d wave back. Part of that was her job and the other half was just her. I’m not going to be the only one who misses her.”
It was in September of 1999 that Bennett was hired at the Register, starting off as an inserter at night when the paper still ran a press out of the East Line Street building.
Less than a year later, in July 2000, she was promoted to a position in Advertising, becoming one of four sales representatives responsible for generating the revenue that keeps Inyo County’s hometown newspaper in business.
“I first met Dottie when I was editor and she came to work in the mailroom. She demonstrated a lot of initiative and a strong work ethic,” said Barbara Laughon, lifelong Bishop resident and former publisher of The Inyo Register. “When I served as general manager, Dottie was given the opportunity to work in Advertising. She took to it like a duck to water, so much that in her first year she won a corporate-wide contest for top sales.”
Part of Bennett’s responsibilities included covering the Southern Inyo market, which entailed weekly trips to Independence and Lone Pine for the next nine years and taking leadership of the ad content of annual special projects like the Lone Pine Film Festival Tab and Southern Inyo Early Opener Fish Wrap.
Her work helped bring exposure to south county businesses and important community events.
Bennett also handled the advertising for Bishop Mule Days, which allowed Laughon the opportunity to stay in touch with Bennett after leaving the paper in 2003.
“After I left the paper, Dottie and I stayed in contact on a personal and professional level. She and I worked together for the last seven years on any advertising Bishop Mule Days placed with the Register. I could always count on Dottie to keep me on schedule and to catch any omissions or oversights I made. She served as a great sounding board for any new media ideas I had, and she was always very supportive of Mule Days,” Laughon said. “On a personal level, Dottie was one of the most tenacious people I’ve ever known. I saw that first-hand when her late husband Pat battled cancer. Dottie was determined that Pat would be as comfortable as possible and receive the best care she could obtain. She stayed at his bedside continually, and never complained about the obvious toll it was taking on her.
“Dottie’s greatest strengths were her unwavering faith, her tenacity and her compassion for people,” Laughon continued. “She absolutely hated it when people judged others by what they saw, rather than what was inside. She was very loyal to her friends and to those who gave her a chance to prove herself, be it on a professional or personal level.
“Dottie was beginning to plan for retirement, something she had dreamed about for many years,” Laughon said. “I am so saddened that she’s left us before that dream could come true. I will miss her terribly and think of her often.”
Among those who will surely miss Bennett are the ones who worked alongside her for the past several years, eight hours a day, five days a week.
Not surprisingly, these same people found that their relationships with Bennett went beyond typical workplace interaction.
“Dottie was my comrade and confidant at work and a friend with a huge heart outside of work,” said Terry Langdon, fellow advertising representative. “She touched the lives of me and my children. We will never forget her and will miss her greatly.”
Of all the kind words said and anecdotes recalled about Bennett, her good friend Ishii perhaps summed up best what kind of human being Dottie really was.
“She had a heart of gold, and it made me ashamed I wasn’t a better person.”
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 10 July 2009 )
|
|
|
|
