Helen Elizabeth Bennett

HELEN ELIZABETH BENNETT Funeral services for longtime Cortez resident Helen Elizabeth Bennett will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, April 7 at the Cortez Church of Christ. Interment will follow at Cortez Cemetery. Helen was born August 30, 1921 in Abilene, Texas the daughter of William Leanus and Martha Elizabeth (Sandusky) Beaty. She passed away at Mercy Medical Center in Durango on Wednesday, April 2, 2014. Helen was 92 years old. Helen began a long and wonderful life when she wed Russell Lester Bennett on September 28, 1940 in San Angelo, Texas. Together Helen and Russell celebrated 65 years of marriage before Russell's death in 2006. In 1954 the Bennett family relocated to the Cortez area. They dedicated themselves as active members of the Cortez Church of Christ, serving their church and its activities for their entire lives. Helen was an accomplished seamstress and a good cook. She also enjoyed her time outside gardening. Surviving Helen are her daughter and son-in-law, Nellie and Gene Donovan of Cortez; three grandchildren, Laura Dalley of Fort Worth, Texas, Lisa Deffenbaugh and husband, Bob of Cassville, Mo., and Lana Laker and husband, Matthew of Phoenix, Ariz.; and four great grandchildren, Austin and Mikala Deffenbaugh of Cassville, Mo. and Lacy and Justin Dalley of Fort Worth, Texas. Helen was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Russell Bennett; her parents, William and Martha Beaty; a daughter, Betty Helen Bennett; and by three brothers and one sister. Memorial contributions can be made in Helen Bennett's name with Four Corners Youth Encampment, c/o Church of Christ, 631 E. Montezuma Ave., Cortez, Colo. 81321.