William John Cole BENNETT

WILLIAM JOHN COLE BENNETT Loving and much-loved husband of Elaine Calder; and devoted stepfather to Allegra, both of whom adored and admired him. Bill died peacefully, with Elaine at his side on November 27, 2023, in his 90th year. Born in Toronto on October 19, 1934, to Elsie Worthington Bennett and her American husband, Roland Jefferson Bennett, he was predeceased by his brother, Douglas; and sister, Ann; and is survived by his niece, Mary Farress of Guelph. He graduated in 1953 with the Vincent Massey medal from University of Toronto Schools, and studied English Literature at the University of Toronto, graduating with an M.A. and a partially completed Ph.D. thesis on Andrew Marvell. He was involved in the emerging Canadian theatre scene in the 1950s, working at Hart House, Ontario's summer stock playhouses and the Crest Theatre, usually serving as electrician. He spent several years teaching at the University of Toronto before earning an LL.B. degree from York University and practising family law in Toronto, Woodstock and St. Catharines. He met Elaine in 1984 and they were together until his death. A man of diverse interests, he read widely, studied many languages, took lessons in playing the viola da gamba, and for many years ran, cycled and rollerbladed. Bill retired from the law in 1994 when Elaine left the Shaw Festival for the National Arts Centre and subsequent work in Hartford, Connecticut, Edmonton and Portland, Oregon - work which provided him with two decades of memorable experiences, warm friendships with theatre, opera and symphony professionals, and attendance at thousands of performances. Bill and Elaine retired to Victoria, BC, in 2015 to be close to Allegra and her husband, Gabriel, in Seattle, and to enjoy the city's vibrant arts community. They enjoyed four trips to Venice even as Bill reached his late eighties, and shared many happy weeks there exploring its art, architecture and music. Towards the end, he felt lost and isolated in his growing blindness, and he struggled bravely to stay in touch with the world around him. Elaine is immensely grateful to the close friends with whom he was about to share a celebratory dinner, who immediately called for help and did their best to assist him, and to the first responders, paramedics, doctors and nurses of Vancouver Island Health. Like so many in BC he didn't have a family doctor, but in his last two hours, he was surrounded by caring medical professionals. In lieu of flowers, please attend and support your local orchestra, theatre, opera company or chamber music society and remember this loving, thoughtful and gentle man for whom literature and the arts were so vitally important.