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BENNETT: Mary Josephine Bennett (nee Kavanagh). Peacefully, after a brief confinement in the Misericordia Hospital in Caen, France, Mary Bennett died on Christmas Day. Mary was born in 1931 in Brandon, Manitoba. There she graduated from St. Michaels Academy in 1949 and subsequently obtained degrees from St. Marys College and from the University of Manitobas Faculty of Social Work. By her many friends Mary was seen as a compassionate and brave person. These admirable characteristics did not prevent her from being a frivolous and sparkling freshie queen in 1950 nor from parenting g her five sons with a limitless sense of humor. Mary was that special kind of person who, as a teenager, would face down a school yard bully, or as a young adult quit her job to spend time with her mother in her final months. As a wife she supported unreservedly the formation of her husbands academic career from early days at Brandon College and subsequently at Middlebury College, Vermont; The University of Saskatchewan at Regina; St. Pauls College in Winnipeg. Their journey ended with his Doctoral Studies at the University of Caen, France where Robert ultimately taught for many years. In those years Mary became a special friend to Canadian Veterans and their families who came to visit the nearby beaches of the D. Day Invasion and the Environs of Caen where so many of our soldiers fought to liberate France. Mary was predeceased by her husband Robert. She is survived by her sons Charles (Isabelle), Robert (Caroline), Paul (Catherine), Daniel and Richard; her grandchildren Pierre, Olivier, Marion, Louise, Melanie, Mathilde, Marina, Thomas, Theo and Clara, and her brother Kevin Kavanagh of Winnipeg. A Mass celebrating Marys life was said at 3:00 p.m. in the village of Authie, Normandy on Thursday, December 29th. Donations may be made in Mary's memory to St. Marys Academy, 550 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
As published in Brandon Sun on Dec 31, 2011