NATCHEZ – Services for Walter L. Bennett, 71, of Natchez, who died Friday, Jan. 11, 2008, at his residence, will be at 11 a.m. Friday at United Baptist Church, on Morgantown Road, with the Rev. LeRoy White officiating.
Burial will follow at the church cemetery under the direction of Robert D. Mackel and Sons Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. until service time Friday at the church.
Mr. Bennett was born Sept. 8, 1936, in Natchez, the son of Andrew Bennett and Annie Laura Smith Bennett. He was a member of United Baptist Church and was an ordained deacon. He was employed, in his younger years, with Natchez Coca Cola Bottling Company, where he was the first African-American supervisor. He later owned and operated the Snow White Cleaners for many years. He was also an electrician.
He was preceded in death by his parents; nephew, Theodore Bennett; and niece, Connie Bennett.
Survivors include a loving and devoted wife of 49 years, Viola Bennett; daughter, Margaret January and husband, Andrew, all of Natchez; granddaughter, Andrea Bonds and husband, Richard, both of Frederick, Md.; grandson, Marques January and fiancé, Linda Armstead, both of Lanum, Md.; great-grandchildren, Alexes Denson and Cody Bonds, both of Frederick, Md.; brothers, Andrew Bennett Sr. of Natchez, Edward Bennett and wife, Sue, both of Ann Arbor, Mich. and Theodore Bennett and wife, Ester, both of San Francisco; sisters, Rosa Heard of Ypsilanti, Mich. and Myrtle Jean Richardson and husband, Odis, both of Chelsea, Mich.; aunt, Dorothy Covington of Natchez; aunt-in-law, Berniece Smith; sisters-in-law, Eliza Quinn and husband, Cicero, Annette Mitchell and Estell Banford and husband, Wilson, all of Natchez; brother-in-law, Charles McQuarters and wife, Catherine, both of New Orleans; goddaughter, Latonia Ferguson; godsister, Gloria Ford and husband, J.D.; and nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.