Nov.
21, 2009SOUTH BEND - Jene R. Bennett MD., formerly of South Bend, Indiana, passed away in Indianapolis November 21, 2009 at 93 years. He married Edith Blackburn on November 15, 1937, and they just recently celebrated their 72nd anniversary together. Jene attended grade school and high school in Plymouth, Indiana. He did his undergraduate work at Indiana University and he graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1940. He joined the U.S. Army in 1941 and was in the medical corps serving in the European theater in a field hospital where he was awarded the Bronze Star. At the end of the war he returned to Indiana University for post-graduate studies in pathology. While a student at Indiana University, he played piano for a dance band, learning to improvise proficiently. He played informally at home and invariably would perform at family gatherings, which will be forever remembered by his children and grandchildren. Dr. Bennett then began working for the South Bend Medical Foundation in 1945 and retired in 1979 after serving as its Director for several years. While working at the Foundation. Dr. Bennett because a delegate and counselor to the Indiana State Medical Association, counselor to the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, and past president of the Indiana Association of Pathologists. He was a member of the Indiana Association of Blood Banks, Chicago Regional Blood Bank Clearing House and the editorial board of the Journal of the Indiana State Medical Association. He was also active in civic events and associations, such as the Civic Music Association of South Bend, and served as the past president of the Health Council of St. Joseph County, and a board member of the Council of Community Services, St. Joseph County Chapter of the American Red Cross, St. Joseph County Cancer Society, St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce, and the United Community Services. He also was involved in the community in working with Meals on Wheels, voluntary Health Agencies and the Rehabilitation Center. He was instrumental in the establishment of the United Health Foundation, the Health-O-Rama Project and Planned Parenthood of Northern Indiana. He was a member and Elder of First Presbyterian Church of South Bend. Dr. Bennett was preceded in death by his parents, Beulah Schrader and Earl Bennett, and his brother Roy Bennett. He is survived by his wife, Edith Bennett, and four children: JoAnne (Harold) Dodd of Athens, Ohio; Judy (Darrell) Cline of Pueblo, Colorado; Donald (Carla) Bennett of Carmel, Indiana; and Phillip (Linda) Bennett of Bangor, Maine. His sister, Mary Alice Ditto of San Juan, Texas also survives, as well as 12 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. You are invited to visit www.leppertmortuary.com where you can sign the guestbook, leave a message for the family or make a contribution to the BHI Foundation, Inc., 5415 Bearberry Lane, Indianapolis, Indiana 46268, in memory of Jene Bennett. These donations will be used for the Good Neighbor Fund. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Leppert Mortuary, Nora Chapel.