William O. Bennett

William “Bill” Oscar Bennett passed away on Nov. 21, 2022, from injuries sustained from a fall the prior week and six months after a stroke. He was born Jan. 28, 1935, to Joseph and Nora Garner-Bennett in Ottumwa.

Along with a group of his closest friends, he proudly enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1953 where he served valiantly in the Korean War. Upon returning stateside for duty at the Joint Munitions Command in Crane, Indiana, he met and in 1956 married, the love of his life, Phyllis Ann Jordan - wife, mother, homemaker and bridge player extraordinaire.

After Bill’s three years of active service and achieving the rank of Sergeant, the couple returned to his hometown of Ottumwa, where he worked as a milk deliveryman, postman and then a ditch digger for the waterworks where he started his career in water utilities. Bill graduated from Water and Wastewater School in Neosho, Missouri, in 1965. This was followed by increasing levels of responsibility at the water departments in Joplin and Carthage, Missouri, 1965-67; Sac City 1967-69; Chariton 1969-73; Creston 1973-81; Keokuk 1981-93 and then retiring from Centerville as General Manager of the Water Department in 1997.

Bill was a member of the United Methodist Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; a life-member of the American Legion, a life-member of Rotary and a proud member of the American Waterworks Association, but his proudest accomplishments were being a husband, father and Marine.

He is proceeded in death by his beloved wife of 60 years, Phillis Bennett (2016); his parents Joseph and Nora Bennett (1976); his sister JoAnn Kent (1996); his half-brothers Ed Bennett (1971) and Joe Bennett (1923); his half-sisters Alice Mello (2017) and Velma Milliken (2010); son-in-law Mike Monday (1980) and daughter-in-law Tisha Bennett (2015).

He is survived by his son Brad Bennett of Eucha, Oklahoma; his daughter Nancy (Doug) Mosman of Broken Arrow, his son Rick (Angie) Bennett of Tulsa, Oklahoma; grandchildren: Genny Mosman, Sasha Mosman, Bon Mosman, Adam Overberg, Jordan Bennett, Emily Taylor, Caiman Davidson and Elizabeth Davidson and great-grandchildren Hadley Sedore and Spencer Mosman.

Graveside services for both Bill and Phyllis will be held at the Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, on a yet to be determined date.

Semper Fi