Rosamond Bennett

Rosamond (Riley) Bennett, a lifelong mainstay of Worcester, died Saturday September 29th, 2007 at her home at Briarwood. She was 88 years old.

Mrs. Bennett had been married to Dr. Robert E. Bennett, a prominent local obstetrician who died in 1999. She was born on the WPI campus at Salisbury and West streets, the daughter of Robert Sanford Riley, a WPI instructor, and Katharine Higgins Riley, a daughter of Milton Prince Higgins, a founder of Norton Company, of Worcester Pressed Steel Co. and, with Sanford Riley, of Riley Stoker Co.

She leaves five children, Dr. Robert S. Bennett of Holden, Rebecca B. Crocker of Worcester, Bruce S. Bennett of Worcester, Peter S. Bennett of Gulfstream, FL., Rosamond L. Bennett of Worcester, nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Bennett was known to friends and associates, even to her husband and children, as a no-nonsense Yankee. She was a daughter of privilege who nevertheless mended her own clothes rather than replace them and knitted all the sweaters, mittens and hats her family would ever need. Her mantra was, "You have to be useful."

In 1999 she was described in a story in Conde' Nast Traveler magazine, during a trip on the Amazon, as "…Roz, the octogenarian aunt, smoked unfiltered Camels, drank her Scotch neat, and had traveled to every continent, including Antarctica. Two minutes after (the guide) jumped into the river to ease any fears about piranhas, Roz was swimming with him."

Unsatisfied with the quality of both public and private education and with five children to educate, Mrs. Bennett, with Jacob Hiatt, in 1953 founded their own school, Shepherd Knapp School, which in its early years educated many of Worcester's most successful sons and daughters.

Mrs. Bennett had wide community involvements, but none was more important to her than music. She was a longtime member of the Worcester Music Students' Club and of Music Worcester. She sang both in the Worcester Chorus and in the choir of First Unitarian Church up to her death. Wherever she lived, she insisted on having her matching Steinway grand pianos in the living room. One of her great joys was four-hand and even eight-hand playing at her home. Mechanics Hall and Symphony Hall, Boston, were her hangouts.

She also had a keen interest in the assistance-animal program at NEADS of Princeton, in Planned Parenthood of Worcester and in the Ecotarium. She was a regular volunteer at all. She was active in the Worcester Garden Club and was an avid gardener, and she enjoyed close associations with the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology and Higgins Armory.

Never particularly interested in sports, Mrs. Bennett nevertheless was in her younger years ladies tennis champion and in her middle years ladies golf champion at Tatnuck Country Club.

She was a devoted supporter of both The Masters School, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and of Smith College, Northampton, from which she graduated in 1939. She did postgraduate work in biology at Harvard University, through which she met her future husband.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 5, at First Unitarian Church, 90 Main St. There are no calling hours, and burial will be private. Contributions to Mrs. Bennett's memory may be made to First Unitarian Church or to NEADS assistance dogs, Box 213, West Boylston, MA 01583.

Caswell - King Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.