Clark Bennett

Wendell Clark Bennett, Jr., age 81, of Mt. Pleasant TN passed away on February 19, 2025, after a long battle with cancer. 

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2025, at 11am at Heritage Funeral Home with Stephen Sauls officiating. The family will visit with friends on Saturday from 9am until the service hour at the funeral home. Heritage Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

Clark was born on September 15, 1943, in Montgomery AL. He came to Columbia in 1948 with his parents, where his father, Dr. Wendell C Bennett, practiced medicine and was among the first medical staff at what was then Maury County Hospital. He always held fond memories of going on house calls with his father, as well as the pair setting trot lines in the Duck River down the bluff from their family home on Riverside Drive.

He graduated from Columbia Military Academy, and attended MTSU where he studied chemistry. After working for a chemical company in Cleveland OH, he returned to Columbia to work for Hooker Chemical (later Occidental Chemical). Always a curious and resourceful man, he and a co-worker patented a process for successfully treating the waste water produced by the plant’s operations. He retired from there after many years, finally assisting in the wind down with the closure of the plant.

He was a talented musician, teaching himself to play the banjo at age 11. Family gatherings always featured Clark and his other musically inclined siblings sitting in the middle of the room entertaining everyone, generally with a classic bluegrass tune. He was an avid reader, maintaining his curiosity about the world we live in until the time of his passing.

He was a wonderful joke and story teller, excellent cook, and took great pride in keeping his yard in top shape. He was very artistic and creative, often making amazing cards for Valentine’s Day and other special occasions. He had a soft spot for stray dogs, Porsche automobiles, and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Without fail, he always bought the largest pre-packaged assortment of fireworks available every Fourth of July. 

He is survived by his wife of 32 years Sonja Marty Bennett (who he adoringly called Blondie), her sons Matthew Buttrey (Emily) and Jesse Buttrey (Claudia), siblings Esther Lee Burks Davenport (Doug), Jimmy Bennett, Mary Jane Schifani (“J”), and George Bennett (Kimberly), sisters-in-law, Dolly Bennett and Linda Bennett; as well as his grandson, Alex Buttrey. He also leaves many loving nieces and nephews. 

He is preceded in death by his father Wendell C Bennett, mother Flora Mae Bennett, and adoptive mother Mamie Jones Bennett; sister, Julie Bennett Kaufman and her husband Fred, and brother, John C (Jack) Bennett. 

The family requests memorial donations be made to St. Jude’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.