Gordon Clowe James Joseph Bennett

Gordon Clowe James Joseph Bennett, 87, died peacefully on Tuesday April 13, 2010, after protracted illness.

Gordon was born Dec. 17, 1922, in New York City, the younger son of James and Mary Clowe Bennett. His older brother, Edward Bennett, and younger sister, Sally Chomen, have both predeceased him.

After Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Pacific Theater in addition to various stateside assignments. In 1944 Pvt. Bennett qualified as a paratrooper. After the war he re-enlisted, attended OCS and was commissioned as a lieutenant

On June 12, 1948, he married his neighborhood sweetheart, Lois Florence Monahan at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Woodside, Queens., brought together by their love of classical music and their strong Catholic faith. They went on to have eight children.

During the Korean War, Gordon re-enrolled as a paratrooper with the the 8081st Quartermaster Airborne Air Supply & Packaging Company, where he oversaw important innovations in rigging. During the Korean War he was again assigned overseas and flew numerous supply missions over Korea.

Now a captain, Gordon and family were stationed Germany, where he supervised the operations of cold stores, refrigerated repositories for perishable supplies. It was during this assignment that he became an avid tegestologist, a collector of coasters or beermats, eventually starting the Society of American Coaster Collectors.

In 1957, Capt. Bennett began his long association with Fort Lee, continuing his affiliation with the Quartermaster School throughout the rest of his Army career and then as a civil servant. In 1960, he served an additional overseas assignment in Burma, where took up tennis and daily correspondence with his wife, back home raising five children.

Capt. Bennett became Maj. Bennett and after 23 years of service, he retired from the Army, returning to work in civil service as chief of the Doctrinal Support Branch, Logistics Career Department. Retiring a second time in 1985, the Army awarded him the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, and the Quartermaster School cited him for "41 years of federal service and outstanding professional leadership." The family lived in Petersburg and Dinwiddie before the Bennetts moved their brood to Waverly, Va., in 1968.

A brilliant man, with varied interests, Gordon love was always writing. Throughout his federal career he wrote freelance articles for a wide variety of national publications with several articles on Virginia's Civil War battlefields published in The New York Times. He was also commissioned by the Hopewell News to write the history of the City of Hopewell for its centennial. In 1968, the Department of the Army awarded him a certificate of achievement citing his "significant contributions towards improving communications and services and services to the public through his outstanding ability as a free lance writer" in over 30 articles published by the local, national, and international press. He was a regular contributor to Civil War Times Illustrated.

After retiring in 1985, he focused on writing, editing and teaching. Under the pen name Isak Romun, He wrote mainstream, mystery and speculative fiction whose credits include Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine to name a few. He has been listed several times on the Honor Roll of the Yearbook of The Mystery and Suspense Story. He was a winner in the NEA/PEN American Syndicated Fiction Project for his story, "Lully's Baton." In conjunction with this award, his winning entry was published in Sunday supplements of the Chicago Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle. His story, "Eagles," was a winner in the Catholic Press Association Short Story Competition. He has served as a short-story judge for the Edgar Awards of the Mystery Writers of America and, locally, as a short-story judge for college writers' conferences.

He is a member and past board member (also past president) of The Virginia Writers' Club Inc., and with Lois a founding member of the Travelers Chapter. In 2002, Lois and Gordon were recognized by the Virginia Writers Club for their lifetime contributions to their craft.

Coaster collecting lost out to philately. He assembled a world class collection of World War I and World War II Swiss soldier stamps, about which he was a recognized authority in the philatelic world. With his wife he ran a small company L.F. Bennett Services, specializing in unusual philatelia. He also found time to collect toy buses, trolleys, and related public transport. Much to Lois's chagrin, he amassed a sizable collection, a part of which was exhibited at the Carpenter Museum.

He is survived by his children, Liane Bennett, Damian Bennett, Christian Bennett and his wife, Sheila Jones Bennett, Jannequin Bennett, Hilary Doyle, Kyryn Bennett, Meaghan Bennett; his grandchildren, Olivia Gee, James Bennett, Pearl Gee and Theresa Bennett; his sisters-in-law, Mary Ellen Monahan and Sandra Bennett; along with 17 nieces and nephews.

Arrangements are being made by Purviance Chapel of J.T.Morris & Son Funeral Home, www.jtmorriss.com.

A Catholic wake will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 19, at Purviance Chapel of J.T. Morriss Funeral Home, 11414 General Mahone Highway, Wakefield VA 23888.

The funeral is at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 20, at The Shrine of the Infant of Prague,

417 N. County Drive, also in Wakefield (across from the Virginia Diner).

To send flowers, please call Ashley's Florist in Wakefield, (800) 822-1029, or visit the Web site http://www.ashleysfloristandantiques.com/.