LOSS TO PETONE

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 275, 16 August 1932, Page 10

LOSS TO PETONE

Death of Mrs. S. Bennett CHURCH & SOCIAL' WORK With the death of Mrs. Sarah Bennett, Petone. has lost one of its most valued residents. The wife of the late Mr. W. H. Bennett, Mrs. Bennett was born in Wellington 68 years ago, but for the last 45 years she has resided in Petone, where she has been an ardent worker in many organisations. Latterly she was Petone representative on the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. One of .the founders of an ambulance service in Wellington, the .late Mrs. Bennett also started the Home Nursing Division of the St, John Ambulance in Petone, and was its lady superintendent ,for many years. The late Mrs. Bennett also worked for the establishment of the Petone district HUTSOe Interested in Missionary Activities She was an earnest worker in'the Presbyterian Church and was especially interested in missionary activities. For many years president and secretary of the local branch of the Missionary Union, she was a foundation member of St David’s Church, Petone, before the present church in Britannia Street was erected, and was also connected with the Presbyterian Home Missionary Committee for New Zealand when it was in Wellington. She was the holder of a long-service diploma from the Presbyterian Assembly, presented to her on the completion cf thirty years’ teachihg in the Sunday schools. ' The late Mrs. Bennett was a foundation member of the Ngaroma Croquet Club, of which at different times she was president and secretary. Forone year she was the president of the Wellington Croquet Association. She also took a keen interest in the Plunket Society and the Sea Scouts. She leaves a son, Mr. W. H. Bennett, who is in Australia, and a daughter, Mrs. H. Parkinson, of Wadestown. There are four grandchildren. Large Attendance at Funeral. Evidence of the esteem in which the late Mrs. Bennett, of Petone, was held was shown by the many friends attending her funeral yesterday. The chief mourners were her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. H. Parkinson; her brother, Mr. G. Hill; and her grandsons, Messrs. R. and H. Lawrence, and her nephew, Mr. R. Hill. The pall-bearers were Messrs. R. Hill, S. Castle, H. Green, F'. O. Austin, T. Blyth, and C. Dixon. The Rev. J. C. Loan conducted the service at St. David’s Presbyterian Church and at the Crematorium, Karori. Rows of Sunday School children and Sea Scouts formed a guard at the church, and a similar guard was provided by the Sea Spouts and the ladies of the St.-John Ambulance Brigade at Karori. Among the organisations represented were the Wellington Hospital Board, the Petone and Wellington branches of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, St. David’s Presbyterian Church, the Petone Borough Council, the Petone and Lower Hutt Gas Lighting Board, the Petone Beautifying Society, the Petone Relief Committee, the Petone District Nurse Committee, the Plunket Society, Sea Scouts and Boy Scouts, the Ngaroma Croquet Club, the St. Augustine Croquet Club, and the Wellington Croquet Association. Among the mourners were Messrs. C. M. Luke, W. Cole, A. T. Markman, G. Petherick, J. H. Helliwell, A. J. McCurdy, J. C. Riddell, R. Brown, Dr. R. C. Begg, Mesdames .Chapman, Fraser, A. McVicar and K. Preston, and Messrs. D. McKenzie, the Mayor of Petone; W. F. Sturman, W. G. Lodder, O. Silbery, J. Kerr, J. W. McEwan, P. Fraser, M.P., C. P. Brockelbank, and J. C. Burns.