The children of Marie M. Bennett invitethe community she dearly loved for 26 years to a celebration of herlife on Friday, Oct. 12, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Our Lady of the SeasParish Hall in Buxton.
The family will provide meat, set-ups, and beverages for a dinner, andthose who are inclined can bring a covered side dish, salad, or desertto share. Please let Nancy Chandler at 995-5936 know if you arecoming and what you will bring.
If you play a musical instrument or would like to share your voice insong, be prepared for a night of fun. Marie’s children willbring a musical and photo tribute to her life.
Marie Mitchell Bennett, who modeled for Baltimore department storesbefore becoming an executive secretary and a store owner, died July 9,2007, of leukemia at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson, Md.She was 72.
Mrs. Bennett was born in Baltimore and raised in Roland Park. Shegraduated in 1953 from Eastern High School, where she was a member ofPhi Omega sorority.
She completed a one-year program at Bard Avon business school inBaltimore and then married Raymond Edward Adolph of Timonium. Thecouple had three children before their marriage ended in divorce in1962.
After spending several years at home with her children, Mrs. Bennetttook a job as a runway model, displaying clothes for Hutzler’s andStewart’s department stores during afternoon teas, bridal shows, andother events.
She became an executive secretary to David S. Brown, founder of a realestate and property management company. She then worked as an executivesecretary to a vice president at the Lord Baltimore Hotel and to anEastern Shore businessman.
In 1980, she married Alvin Leroy Bennett. The two lived in Buxton until Mr. Bennett died in 2005.
In North Carolina, Mrs. Bennett owned a shop for 15 years, selling Hallmark products and flowers.
She sold that business and took a position running a Meals on Wheelsprogram for up to 20 seniors on Hatteras Island. She planned menus,cooked meals, and coordinated drivers four days a week until she becameill in 2005 and moved back to Baltimore to be close to her family.
She enjoyed gardening, was an accomplished quilter who taught others to quilt and made items for her family.
She also played the ukulele, and “singing was a big part of our life,”said her daughter, Sharon Lee Simmons of Boynton Beach, Fla.
Mrs. Simmons said that when her mother died, she was surrounded by herthree children, who sang one of their favorite songs, “I’d DoAnything,” from the musical “Oliver.”
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Bennett is survived by two sons, J.Mitchell Adolph of Glen Arm, Md., and Brian Keen Adolph of Bel Air,Md.; a sister, Celeste Boteler of Westminster, Md.; a stepbrother,James McNamee of Baltimore; and five grandchildren.
