Charles Bennett

Charles Henderson Bennett was a good man. The son of George Ernest and Elizabeth (McNulty) Bennett of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he was born in Seattle, Washington on 6 March 1914. Soon after his birth, the Bennett family returned to Vancouver, B.C. Charlie's formal education took place in Canada where he attended King Edward High School and Vancouver Technical School. Upon completion of his technical schooling in 1936, Charlie took, and passed, his professional radio operators' license exam with a 99.18% a score which still stands as the highest ever recorded on the test.Charlie was employed by the Provincial Police of British Columbia in 1935. He became a 32-degree Mason in 1936. On May 21, 1938, Charlie married the love of his life, Margaret Gibson Scotland, in Vancouver, and the newlyweds moved to Altin, BC, where he undertook his duties with the police force. Charlie and Margaret made and sold mastodon ivory and Yukon gold nugget jewelry, and took photographs and portraits, both for the love of the mediums and to help supplement their income.In 1941, Charlie began his career with Pan American Airways. He was hired as a radio operator, and moved his young family to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and then to Nome and Fairbanks, Alaska. In WWII, he joined the Army Air corps, from which he was honorably discharged in 1947. Progressing in job duties as his abilities became evident to the airline during the years he worked up north, Charlie was assigned to San Francisco, California, as a licensed dispatcher in 1952.With his family living in the San Francisco area, Charlie was asked by Pan Am to travel to the Far East. He went first to Rangoon, Burma (Myanmar), where he opened the airline's stations, and then to the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, where he helped establish the airline's presence. After returning from his work assignments overseas, the now 7-member Bennett family moved to Tokyo, Japan, in October 1954.In Tokyo, Charlie, as Station Manager for Pan American World Airlines, was in charge of the airline - both in the offices in the city of Tokyo and at Haneda International airport. He was heavily involved in the community, and as a member of the school board of the American School in Japan, was instrumental in helping to build the new campus at Chofu. An active member of the Tokyo Union Church, Charlie was also a member of the Tokyo Valley Masons, the Yedo Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star, Toast Masters, Rotary International, and Japan-American Chamber of Commerce.In 1965 Charlie and his family moved to Kabul, Afghanistan. He was Chief of Party for Pan American's technical assistance program to that nation's national airline, Ariana Afghan Airlines. As an executive vice-president for Pan Am, Charlie oversaw Ariana's expansion from a small, relatively local propeller-driven airline to a company with a fleet of jets that flew into cities in England, Germany, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, and, of course, throughout Afghanistan. During his 12 years in Kabul, Charlie continued to be busy with community activities. He was a founder of both the Camel Drivers' Amateur Radio Club (YAlAB) and the Rotary International Club in Kabul.1977 saw Charlie retiring from the airline industry after thirty-six years of dedicated service, and making his home on Hoods Canal in Belfair, Washington - a beautiful area of the Northwest where he had spent many summers as an adult, and where he and Margaret had purchased a piece of land. However, the airlines were not ready to go without his expertise, and he was hired on as a consultant in 1980. London, England, was home base to the Bennett family patriarch for the next three years.He and Margaret finally came home to Hoods Canal for good in 1983. During their time at the Canal, among other activities, Charlie spent countless hours assisting refugees from war-torn Afghanistan and in coordinating sponsorship of the Afghan nationals who had worked for Ariana. He was a member of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, continued with his Masonic and Shriner activities, and was active in local politics. He and Margaret continued to travel around the world that always was of such interest to them.A loving husband to Peg, his wife, friend, confidante, and constant support for 65 years, he took enormous pride in her, their children, and grandchildren. Charlie, by nature, was very shy, but no one who ever met him would have known that. His 6-foot-2 frame made him, literally and figuratively, stand head and shoulders above others. His demeanor exuded a confidence that was reassuring at all times. He valued the honesty of a good day's work, the importance of a good education, and he had an inquisitive mind which he used to puzzle out a problem until he reached a solution. He enjoyed his family, creating and building things with his hands, photography, being a ham radio operator- both Morse and voice, reading, and his world-wide circle of friends. His mind and his hands were rarely idle. It was his involvement with the Masonic Brotherhood and the Nile Shrine that remained the cornerstone of the quiet, personal deeds of kindness which he performed all his adult life. He had the uncanny ability of making every one feel important, and he always had time for the needs of others. He dined with kings and paupers; all were equal in his eyes.Charlie succumbed to the ravages of Alzheimer's on 3 September 2002. He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Bessie, older brother Thomas Robert George Bennett, and younger brother, Willard Matthew Bennett.Remembering him with deep love and celebrating the life he shared with them are his family and friends. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, of Belfair, Washington; son John Earnest Bennett and wife Barbara of Bosnia and New Hamshire, and grandsons Ian Scotland Bennett of Colorado and Seth Holden Bennett of Namibia; son Charles Stuart Bennett of Mercer Island, Washington and grandson, Bennett Grey of Fayetteville, North Carolina; daughter Margaret Elizabeth and husband Guy Stephen Stoner, and grandsons Scott Stephen Stoner and William Bennett Stoner, all of Milledgeville, Georgia; daughter Lee Anne and husband Mel A. Martinez, and grandsons Jesse Robert Martinez, Jordan Isaiah Martinez, and Gabriel Francis Martinez, all of Belfair, Washington; daughter Carol Jean and husband John William Zukerman of Seattle, Washington; daughter Grenda Falene Penhollow Moss, grandson Travis Penhollow Moss and wife Tessa, and grandson Clayton Boyles Moss, all of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and daughter Jody LaVon Penhollow and husband Paul Laskowski, and granddaughter Olivia Ray Laskowski, all of Nashville, Tennessee.Gifts in memory of the full life of Charles Henderson Bennett may be made to the Shriner's Hospital, Nile Shrine, 6601 224th SW, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043-2750, to St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, 15000 NE North Shore Road, Tahuya, WA 98588, or to a charity of choice.