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In memory of

Ethel Werlau Bennett

Rhinebeck, NY, USA

May 23, 1920 - January 26, 2019

May 23, 1920 - Jan 26, 2019

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Ethel Arlene Werlau Bennett
Born May 23, 1920, Hortonville, NY
Passed January 26, 2019, Rhinebeck, NY

To Know Her Was to Love Her

There wasn’t a person who met Ethel Arlene Bennett who did not love her. Her quiet grace and warmth touched everyone around her. She will be greatly missed by her surviving friends and family, including three children, seven grand-children, and six great-grandchildren.

Born Ethel Arlene Werlau in Hortonville, NY on May 23, 1920, she was the first child of William and Linnie Werlau. She grew up with her two younger brothers, Kenneth and Victor, on a family farm in the Beechwoods of upstate New York. She remembered her childhood as being uncomplicated. She attended a one-room schoolhouse where she learned from older pupils as well as her teachers. Her mother taught her the arts of home-making, cooking and baking while her farther encouraged her to spend time outdoors and gave her a pony named Teddy.

After graduating from Callicoon High School in 1937, Ethel aspired to become a nurse, but was too young to start a nursing program. After a year of taking extra classes at her high school alma mater, she matriculated at Christ Hospital School of Nursing in New Jersey, and received her RN in 1941. While at nursing school, she discovered a life-long love of the ocean and spent every free day at the beach on the New Jersey shore. Upon completing her degree, she returned to her hometown of Callicoon, NY to assist her mother and practice nursing at the local hospital. Ethel was a healing person, both personally and professionally; her 30-year career was one of her proudest accomplishments.

On November 1, 1942, Ethel married Jack Hartwell Bennett, a merchant marine engineer who worked on oil tankers. The newlyweds enjoyed a short honeymoon at Niagra Falls before Jack’s war-time duties required him to go back to sea.

After WWII, Ethel and Jack resided in Stratfort, CT; Callicoon, NY; and Bridgeport, CT; finally returning to Callicoon in 1948, where they resided until 1965. During their time in Callicoon, Jack took over management of his father’s pharmacy and soda fountain and Ethel took time out from nursing to raise her three children: Vicki Lynn, Robert Jack, and Deborah Arlene. When her youngest child started school, Ethel went back to work and served as a Public Health Visiting Nurse for Sullivan County, NY. During this time she was also an active member of The Order of the Eastern Star.

In 1965, the Bennett family moved to New City in Rockland County, NY, where Ethel continued to serve as a Public Health Visiting Nurse until she retired in 1982. Throughout her life, Ethel enjoyed hosting family gatherings and traveling to visit her children and grandchildren. Due to Jack's frequent work with oil tankers, the couple purchased a condominium in Jacksonville Beach, FL, where they spent many wonderful days with friends and family at the Seascape complex.

After Jack retired, he and Ethel moved back to their rural roots and built their dream home with stunning views of the Catskill Mountains in Freehold, NY. They enjoyed a quiet life in Freehold until Jack passed away on July 29, 1997. Five years later, Ethel decided to move to The Fountains in Millbrook, NY. There she made new friends and enjoyed an active life until her health required her to be closer to family. In 2017, Ethel moved to Arbor Ridge in Rhinebeck, NY to be near her daughter Vicki. Friends and family visited her regularly there, and she continued to charm all she met until her peaceful passing in the early hours of January 26, 2019.

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