Sara Lenora Neville Bennett

Sara Lenora Neville Bennett, Ph.D. March 8, 1931 – September 10, 2020
Statesboro, GA
Dr. Sara Lenora Neville Bennett, a 6th generation Bulloch Countian, a descendant of John Neville who received 1000 acres in Bulloch County in 1790, was born on the family farm on March 8, 1931, to William Gesmon Neville and Marguerite Nunnally Neville. She was the fifth child and the last of the siblings born to this union. She died on September 10, 2020, as a result of COVID-19 contracted on that same family farmland, now site of The Lodge at Bethany, her home for the past four and one-half years.
She received her B.S. in Biology with a minor in Mathematics and a B.S. Ed. in General Science in 1964 from Georgia Southern College. She received her M.S. Biology degree as one of the first two students in the program at Georgia Southern College, and was employed as an Instructor of Biology from 1966 to 1971. She continued her education at the University of Georgia, earning a Ph.D. in Microbiology in 1975. She was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1971, to Associate Professor in 1977, and to Professor in 1985. She retired May 31, 2004, and was named Professor Emerita.
Dr. Bennett belonged to several honor societies and was the recipient of numerous awards. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Omicron, The Society of Sigma Xi, and Golden Key Honor Society. She was selected as Advisor of the Year from Georgia Southern University and was selected the national winner of Outstanding Advisor Award from the Southeast National Academic Advising Association region. She was an elected Fellow of the Georgia Academy of Science; recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Biology; and, recipient of the Margaret Green Award for Excellence in Teaching, Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology.
Dr. Bennett was a researcher and teacher, but her forté was mentoring graduate students. She was the major professor for many M.S. students and served as a member of other thesis committees. She excelled at directing the course work of the pre-medical and pre-dental students, successfully getting "her" students into the schools of their choice.
On July 11, 1948, she and Lovett Bennett of Sylvania, Georgia, were married. Their marriage lasted two days short of 61 years when Lovett died on July 9, 2009. There were three children born to this union, six grandchildren, and eight greatgrandchildren.
Dr. Bennett was predeceased by her husband Lovett and her daughter Barbara Bennett Leapard, as well as by her parents and her siblings: William Gesmon Neville, Jr., Jessie Stafford Neville, Marguerite Nunnally Neville Guin, and William Josiah Neville. Ommie Mainer, her close friend and caregiver, preceded her in death by one day.
She is survived by her daughter, Sara Carolyn Bennett Broucek, and her husband, William Samuel Broucek, and her son, Lovett Bennett, Jr., and his wife Missy Mallard Bennett, all of Statesboro. The grandchildren: Samuel Josiah Broucek and his wife Michelle Shaw Broucek and William Bennett Broucek of Statesboro; Emily Leapard Baker and her husband Matthew Joseph Baker of Carmel, Indiana; Sara Leapard Saunders of Oxford, Ohio; William Lovett Bennett and his wife Megan Troutt Bennett of Brooklyn, New York; and, Michael Hampton Bennett of Atlanta, Georgia. The great-grandchildren: Josiah Charles Broucek and Emily Anne Broucek; Charles David Saunders, Thomas Lovett Saunders, and Lilah Victoria Badics; Bennett Elizabeth Baker and Evan James Baker; and Lucy Ann Bennett.
Dr. Bennett was a member of the Statesboro Primitive Baptist Church where she was the longest serving member at the time of her death. A memorial service will be held there on Saturday, September 12, 2020, at 11:00 AM. Burial will be at Eastside Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that remembrances be made to the Sara Bennett Biology Scholarship (0595), Georgia Southern University Foundation, Inc., PO Box 8040, Statesboro, GA 30460 or Mercer Law School, 1021 Georgia Avenue, Macon, GA 31207.
Services will be streamed live at https://www.facebook.com/groups/jafhlive/ or www.statesboropbc.church .
Friends may sign the online register book at www.joineranderson.com.
Savannah Morning News
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