Wallace Bennett (14 Jul 1925 - 8 Mar 2018)

In loving memory of Wallace Bennett who sadly passed away on 8th March 2018

Wallace, known to friends and family as Wal, was the fourth youngest of eleven children. He was born 14th July 1925. As a young teenager, he worked as an errand boy for Johnson's Shop in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. Most of his family moved to Birmingham in the spring of 1939 but Wallace remained at 95 Rose Street, Hanley with his father until he could leave school the following July at the age of 14 . War was declared that September. Having rejoined his immediate family, Wallace stayed in contact with the extended family and school friends back in Stoke on Trent right up until his last weeks.
Wallace and his youngest brother became scouts for a few years but at the age of 18 he was called up and served in the Fleet Air Arm as an Air Mechanic working mainly on Fairy Barraccudas for which he always held a soft spot within his lifelong interest in aircraft and all things technological.
Having been demobbed he was invited by a former comrade, Leonard Carpenter, to visit Len's home in Houghton Regis. Here he met Leonard's sister, Irene who had also demobbed she having been in the WRNS.
After a weekend playing darts Wallace returned home. leaving Irene to stay a few more days with her family before she took up a job in Birmingham. Irene had obviously made an impression on Wallace, who determined to see her again. Waiting outside for her to finish her first day's work he ensured her company every day from that moment on and the couple were married on 5th July 1947.
Wallace became the father of four girls, June, Elizabeth, Doreen, and Diane and his long-awaited son, William. Never wealthy he still took great pride in ensuring that his growing family thrived and enjoyed exciting and adventurous annual holidays together in the New Forest, Devon, and Cornwall.
In 1964 to better his technical knowledge he paid for a place at night technical college to study electronics. He put his natural ability and knowledge at the service of all who needed it fixing TVs radios and other gadgets for family friends and neighbour's often just receiving a token payment and a good deal of thanks but that was all he needed. Whether giving a lift or fixing a car helping others when in genuine need was never an option for him but a given.
A popular well-known character in the district of South Yardley where he lived for 60 years, Wallace enjoyed making others laugh. As a pensioner he took to wearing a distinctive tartan tam o shanter complete with toorie on top on his regular dog walks and constitutions around old Yardley Park and later while riding his mobility scooter. He was a master of the spontaneous pun and enjoyed playing the fool at the many extended family gatherings and celebrations, never failing to excel on the dance floor as he demonstrated his own inimitable style.
He missed his brothers dearly when they departed, as he did his beloved Irene and so too, as we all now miss him. Small in stature he was immense in energy, tenacity, generosity of heart, spirit and Joi de Vivre. Never well off he has nevertheless endowed us with an invaluable legacy encompassing fairness, tolerance, the value of constant learning, hard work, self-improvement and most importantly self-worth and humour. All this, we and many others beyond us, in many different ways, have gained from the benefit of having Wallace in our lives. We have been privileged beyond wealth and material things and we will never cease thanking and thinking of him because of it.

Thank you for sharing our sorrow. It means a lot to us.

We respectfully ask that no flowers be sent but we have set up a donation link to the Salvation Army in memory of Dad.