By: Beth Wallach
Although he lived on Dogwood Lane until moving to Suffolk County when he retired 15 years ago, Bennett's son, James, has fond memories of the family farm at the corner of Merrick Road and Davison Avenue. Bennett said that vegetables, and especially corn, were grown on the two-acre parcel. He said his father not only witnessed the change of Rockville Centre and the county from tract land to a bustling suburban area, but also played a pivotal role in the transformation.
Born in Rockville Centre in 1911, Bennett went to Riverside School, where he met Mildred Schwandt, who would later become his wife. According to his son, "He was crazy about her from the first time he saw her." After graduating from South Side High School, where he played baseball, Bennett went on to study at Cornell, earning a law degree in 1935. He was elected to the Assembly two years later, at age 26, and then became a state senator, a position he held for 15 years.
One of Bennett's major accomplishments as a senator was the construction of Peninsula Boulevard, a thoroughfare that would link the Five Towns with Nassau County's center. At the time the road was conceived, the section that would cut through Rockville Centre was smack in the middle of Hempstead Lakes State Park. The visionary planner Robert Moses, who changed the landscape of Long Island, was opposed to the road's route through parkland. He wanted it directed through an area of the village where there were homes that would have to be condemned. Bennett, who disagreed, eventually won out, but his victory came with a price. Moses asked Bennett to support a toll on the Southern State Parkway when it came up for a vote in the Legislature.
While serving in the state Senate, Bennett, a Republican, helped plan and build the Nassau County Medical Center, Eisenhower Park and the Atlantic Beach Bridge.
The younger Bennett recalled that there wasn't anything that happened in the village that his father wasn't involved in. His father, whose law office was on the corner of Sunrise Highway and North Park Avenue, was a member of Rotary and served on the board of South Nassau Communities Hospital.
In addition to the home in Rockville Centre, the family had a summer home on Shelter Island, where Bennett was able to indulge two of his passions, hunting and fishing. Each year he hosted a Flounder Festival, and one of his greatest joys was bringing people together from different walks of life. From then Bishop John McGann to the neighborhood gas station owner, people from different backgrounds would gather to fish and reminisce.
Another of Bennett's passions was his family. He married Schwandt shortly after graduating from law school, and they were married for 67 years. They raised James, who is also a lawyer, and his sister, Judy, who lives in Bradbury, Calif. According to his son, Bennett's children and grandchildren were the love of his life.
Before Bennett moved to the Peconic Landing assisted living facility, his son would visit him at home daily at 5 p.m. "I'd stop by the house every day with Tom Moffitt, my business partner at the Holiday Inn, and we talked about the affairs of the world and how to make everything turn out right," said James. When asked how his father might like to be remembered, he said, "He would like to be remembered as someone who really loved Nassau County and was happy to be a part of its growth."
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