Meet Harold Lee Bennett (1925-2013) whose detailed obituary you can read here. Harold was born in Kent County, DE and lived there all his life.
He was the son of Jacob Mayne Bennett (1895-1981) and Fleta Magdalena Fifer (1897-1984). The Bennetts came to America from England in the mid-1600s and settled in New Jersey. In the mid-1700s they migrated to what is now West Virginia. Fleta’s father, Charles Frederick Fifer (1870-1955), moved to Delaware from the Shenandoah Valley to farm in 1919 and established what is now known as Fifer Orchards in the vicinity of Wyoming, DE.
Like both of his parents, Harold attended Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, VA. This batch of about 25 documents contains two photographs of the Bridgewater College Eagles baseball team. Harold was a baseball and football standout at Caesar Rodney High School, but he is not listed as a team member in the Bridgewater College yearbook, The Ripples, for 1949, his junior year and the only year available that includes him. I didn’t try to identify any of the players in the photographs below, but I was able to determine that the building down the left field line is the Salem Veterans Administration Medical Center in Salem, VA, which is listed in the Historic American Buildings Survey of the Library of Congress. The Eagles probably played the Roanoke College Maroons in Salem in 1947 and 1949.
Also included in this batch of materials was a letter from Harold to his parents written on 11 September 1944 when Harold was serving in the Navy.
There are several more family photographs in this batch.
My whole family is so extremely grateful to you for finding these documents! Pop (Harold) was an absolutely wonderful person and the reminders of him made us all so happy, including Nana (Norma) who just celebrated her 95th birthday. The letter in particular was such a delight- we don’t have any other records from his time in WW2 or really any letters from him at all, and it was a lot of fun to read. I know my great-grandparents only through family stories but the letter confirmed a lot of what I’ve heard about their personalities, too. It’s such an interesting hobby that you have even if you don’t manage to connect with the families, but such a wonderful gift when you do! Thank you again!
Lee, your finding the blog and contacting me gave me me one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve enjoyed since beginning this blog in 2015. I am very grateful. My best to you and your family.