Richard Jay Bennett

1922 - 2017

The memorial celebration for Richard Jay Bennett will be held Sunday, Feb. 25 at 4 pm at Disciples Christian Church, 5800 Douglas Lane in Bartlesville. Mr. Bennett passed away Tuesday, December 26, 2017, in his sleep at his home where he had lived for 57 years. He was 95. Mr. Bennett was born in Bartlesville August 31, 1922, the youngest of the seven children of Samuel and Blanche Forrester Bennett.
He was a graduate, in 1940, of the first class of Bartlesville College High School. Following graduation, he attended his first year of college at Bartlesville College High School, then transferred as a sophomore to Oklahoma State University. At the end of his sophomore year, he enlisted in the Army to serve in WWII, becoming a 2nd Lieutenant, stationed in Burma to work on the Ledo Road. After the end of the war, he returned to OSU, graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering in 1946, then worked for RCA records in Hollywood, CA. He married Joanne Riney of Bartlesville, whom he had known in high school, on June 19, 1948. After a brief time in California, the couple returned to Bartlesville, where Bennett worked for Phillips Petroleum for 35 years. Bennett was active in Boy Scouts, Kiwanis, the Bartlesville Engineer's Club, China-Burma-India veterans group, and the author of 27 patents.
Bennett was pre-deceased by his wife of 69 years, Joanne Riney Bennett, and his siblings Margaret, Florence, Don, Paul, William, and Charles.
He is survived by his son Richard Riney Bennett and wife Starla (Bunker) of Albuquerque, NM, daughter Megan Bennett of Bartlesville, son Kevin John Forrester Bennett and wife Cynthia Jane (Welch) of Bartlesville, and grandchildren Laura Callin Bennett, Riney Clare Bennett, Richard Dane Bennett, Forrest Welch Bennett, and William Grant Bennett.