Ernest Denton Bennett Jr., 91, recently of Nashville and formerly a native and resident of Sparta, passed away on March 27, 2020, at the Lodge at Natchez Trace, in Nashville.
He was born outside of Sparta, in White County, on March 10, 1929. He grew up in White County and attended Bear Cove Elementary School and White County High School from which he graduated in 1948. He proudly served as a Tennessee State Trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol for over seven years, in the 1950s, and thereafter remained a lifelong friend and supporter to law enforcement generally and specifically of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
His first posting as a state trooper was Greeneville, where he met and married his beloved wife, Charlotte Jones Bennett, a marriage that spanned almost 60 years until her death, in April 2010. Ernest was posted back to his hometown of Sparta as a state trooper, in 1956, and was an active and prominent citizen of Sparta and White County from then until 2014 when his declining health necessitated his relocation to Nashville where he could be more effectively cared for by his son and family.
In 1958, he began what became a career spanning 54 years in the explosives industry, with Trojan Powder Company and Austin Powder Company, as an explosives salesperson and technician serving the quarry and road construction industries, interrupted only by a four-year stint in elected public service. He was revered by his co-workers and customers, as evidenced by Austin Powder Company requesting that he resume his career, in 1994, at age 65, after expiration of his term as White County executive, which then continued until 2012 just shy of his 83rd birthday.
Mr. Bennett was elected and served as an alderman of the City of Sparta from 1970 to 1974 and was elected and served as White County executive from 1990 to 1994.
He was a Mason, a Shriner, a member of the Eastern Star, and a Rotarian for many years, including holding the office of president of Sparta Rotary Club. He was an active member of Sparta First United Methodist Church, over the years serving the church in many capacities.
Mr. Bennett was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Charlotte Jones Bennett; grandparents, Jesse F. Roberts and Martha E. Roberts; parents, Ernest D. Bennett Sr. and Mary E. Roberts Bennett; brothers, Floyd Carl Bennett, Harold Dean Bennett, William C. Bennett, Stanley Franklin Bennett; and sister, Martha Jane McHood.
He is survived by one brother, Jesse Eugene Bennett, of Arrington; his son and only child, Ernest D. “Denny” Bennett III and daughter-in-law Mary Jane Hale Bennett, of Brentwood; his grandchildren, Mary Louise Tays and husband Jonnie, of Mt. Juliet, Emily Charlotte Bennett, of Brentwood, Sarah Jane Brashear and husband Brian, of Brentwood, Ernest D. “Dennis” Bennett IV and wife Tammy, of Springfield; and eight great-grandchildren.
His family gives special thanks to the caring staff of The Lodge at Natchez Trace where he resided for almost six years until his death, to his primary care physician Dr. Charles Daniels, and the caregivers with Guardian Hospice for loving care during the last weeks of his life.
Hunter Funeral Home of Sparta is in charge of burial arrangements. In consideration for the health and safety of family and friends, a private service and burial will be conducted with interment at Oak Lawn Cemetery, in Sparta.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages online condolences and memorial donations to First United Methodist Church in Sparta.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Hunter Funeral Home.
