The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-11-23
By THE OUT EASTER

street who died recently. was
widely known throughout Water
bury. He was born here, and ma
turally in the course Of his life,
had occasion to meet thousands
Of people. This was particularly
true of his days as a representa-
tive of the Citizens Coal Company
when the main Office was In the
old Brown building in Exchange
place. Hundreds Of Waterbury
families depended upon him for
their annual coal supply. and
they were never disappointed. OF
course, we had no wars then, and
there were no coal shortages, ex-
cept occasionally. But no matter
what occurred, if John Bennett
had your order, you'd find coal in
your cellar right at the start of
cold weather.
The little Office he occupied
with others was a rendezvous for
many Of the store owners and
clerks nearby. They all met there
at times, had plate Of ice cream
and a lady finger brought In from
Kelley''S bakery across the way,
and discussed at will questions of
the day. and particularly matters
that were before the Waterbury
public. John seemed to be the
host at all Of these meetings. He
arranged for everything. Happy
and of pleasant nature. popular,
he generally led in the discus
sion, and many laugh followed.
1t was one of those places where
friendliness and good will abound
ed. and where laughter prevailed
He was the life of every party.
and attended many. For years he
was identified with Waterbury
Lodge of Elks. and eventually
went through the chairs, later to
be inaugu1ated as treasurer. It
was in. this organization he
proved his real worth. Back In
the days before the present
charge custom was inaugurated,
John was generally the chairman
of the annual New Years Party.
No one outside Of the club roster
was admitted. and nearly every
member was present The cues.
ton of expense was secondary.
Every little detail was arranged
by John Bennett and his loyal
COMMITTEES They nod tho osceyn
bly, hall decorated; they had an
outside caterer engaged for the
supper. thew had, an orchestra
hired for the music which ran all
night. they had New Year solye-
Mrs: they had one of their good
speakers deliver a New Years ad-
dress lust after the clock struck
the mid-night hour. And oh. what
a night of It afterwards what
good fellowship - what friend
illness - what good cheer all
carried out in common with the
idea and MANS of the man the
Elks saw placed in his grave on a
wet and stormy dav of last week
We have seen Eiks, narties he
fore and since hut none Of them
we have ALWAYS felt co,nnarad
with those ARRANGED and carried
out bv John Rennett He had
gift In arranging details. he went
over his plans daily for a week in
advance and was SIRE Of every
point before the date set for the
event.
The family home was on Cher
Nv street In the wonderful DAYS
of long ago when the volunteer
fire companies of the citv held
their annual parade in the month
of September of each wear, AS a
boy he leaned over the fence
waving a flag. and when the FIRE
men halted in front of his home.
along with the custom of the day'
rushed into the big barrel of
lemonade, and helped fill up the
glasses for the thirsty red shirted
firemen in line. This was what
NhnrYsxr