On the morning of December 19, 2025, the day of the planned funeral service for George Bennett, his beloved wife, Nancy, passed away in her sleep, six days after his passing. A memorial service for both George and Nancy is now planned for February 7, 2026 at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Clemson.

Their daughter, Bonnie Bennett Dixon, and son, Jeff Bennet, spoke with The Pickens County Chronicle following the passing of their mother.

Bonnie said that her parents were a team and did everything together and that, even though it is hard and sad for the family, it is sweet, she said, that her mother did not want to be without him and that they were apart for only a few days. She said she is trying to keep the right perspective and that she is thankful that her parents are together.

She also treasures the time she spent with her mother, especially the last 24 weeks of her life. As her father slept most of the time, she and her mother talked, told stories, laughed, and looked at photos of grandchildren and great grandchildren. “I’m thankful for that,” she said. “I’m kind of at peace.”

Describing her mother, Bonnie said, “Mom was kind and loving and fun-loving. She enjoyed meeting new people and going on adventures. She was very smart and was always one to want to help other people. She taught school, and, over and over again, we’ve heard through the years, all of her students say she was the best teacher that they ever had. And she just loved teaching and helping other people. She loved to play bridge and was a voracious reader. She would stay up to 2:00 in the morning a lot of nights, and she would read, on average, about three novels a week. It really was amazing. She just loved to read — but not just fiction. She loved non-fiction. And she loved to discuss politics and events going on in the world. As much as she loved teaching, she was also involved on a lot of boards. She served on the Easley Baptist Hospital board. She served on the South Carolina State Museum board. She served on the Pickens County Economic Development board. She served on the Peoples Bank board. She really not only liked to volunteer but she liked to use her mind to help others in business and with non-profits, too.

“My husband said yesterday, ‘Your Mom was just a force.’ And she loved to win. She was super competitive and wanted to really bring out the best in people, make you work harder or challenge you to be your best and not to settle.

“We also laughed a lot about the fact that Dad was in the spotlight more, just because of his job, but she was the person behind him, making him look good a lot of times, because she was willing to do the little things, and she didn’t get paid. He would be in charge of a dinner and she would do all of the flowers and address the invitations and do all the background work. That wasn’t his forte, but she loved it, and, so, when the event would come along, Dad would be up there doing all of the speaking and welcoming people and everything, but, when you walked in the door, it was because of Nancy that everything looked great and everything was organized and ready for the function. They were a good team together.”

And they are a good team together again. “We’re thankful that neither one is struggling and they’re together again,” said Bonnie, “and, thankfully, as Christians, we know that we’ll get to see them again someday. We just try to think about the positive part of that.”

Jeff Bennett said that his mother’s passing was both shocking and perfect, as his parents could not stay away from one another. “They’re together,” he said, “and they were meant to be together.”

When describing his mother, he said, “Dad had so many stories. He did this. He did that. Mom was, a lot of times, more behind the scenes. She was on City Council. She was head of the National Chapter of the National Conference on Christians and Jews. So, she did take some steps in the spotlight at times. She loved being on Council. She had some visions of the way things should be done, and she was going to fight for those visions. Even the people that didn’t necessarily agree with her were still good friends with her.

“She was a teacher, and she made sure Bonnie and I had good grades. She helped us with homework. She just made sure that we were doing what we were supposed to do. She could be stubborn sometimes, to do things her way, and, generally, they were the right way. But she was just a force, and she was a good force, and she did a lot of really good things, and people really responded to her.”

The morning that she passed, he said, “was a mixture of ‘I can’t believe she’s gone’ and ‘What are we going to do now? Are we going to have the funeral? Are we not going to have the memorial service?’ It was like, ‘We have to wait. We have to do it together now. There’s just no way we can do it today.’ We had to wait. Basically, they went out together, and we had to have them celebrated together.”

The memorial service for George and Nancy Bennett will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2026 at First Baptist Church of Clemson, located at 397 College Avenue. Memorial contributions may be made to First Baptist Church of Clemson or Clemson Community Care.