Services set for Glendell Bennett, 102, WWII veteran who lived in Lexington
Memorial services have been set for Glendell Bennett, 102, a World War II veteran who served with the Quartermaster Truck Company and the Red Ball Express in Europe. He died May 1.
Military honors will be conducted at 12:30 p.m. June 18 at Camp Nelson National Cemetery in Nicholasville.
A celebration of life service will follow at 2 p.m. at Main Street Baptist Church in Lexington, with visitation to begin at 1:30 p.m.
“In keeping with his generous spirit, Mr. Bennett donated his body to science to benefit future generations,” an obituary stated.
Bennett was born in Chicago and grew up in Call, Texas.
At age 17, he volunteered with the Tuskegee Airmen before being drafted into the U.S. Army.
As part of the Red Ball Express, he helped deliver ammunition and other supplies to the front lines.
After the war, he enrolled at Prairie View A&M College in Houston, worked in farming and ultimately returned to Chicago, where he said he worked alongside civil rights leaders including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Bennett moved to Lexington in 2013 to live with his daughter, and he stayed active well into his 90s, working at Goodwill Industries and the Gainesway Community Center through the Senior Community Service Employment Program.
He was preceded in death by four wives and six of his children.
He is survived by his children Glenda Mulder of Versailles; Diane Minnifield and her husband, Frank, of Lexington; Brian Bennett and his wife, Rhonda, of Lexington; Anthony Bennett of San Diego; Steve Bennett and his wife, Darlene, of Chicago; and Cheri Madkins and her husband, Jimmy, of Chicago, along with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He told the Herald-Leader in 2024, when he was celebrating his 100th birthday, that if he could change one thing about the world, he “would change the way people treat each other. I’d make them love one another and enjoy one another. That’s what I would do.”
