Lifelong East Hampton resident James Gordon Bennett died on January 27 at Southampton Hospital. He was 74.
A son of Gordon and Pauline Gray Bennett, he was born at home in East Hampton on July 17, 1934, into of one of the town’s founding families.
Upon graduating from East Hampton High School he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and participated in Operation Deep Freeze and two historic trips to the Antarctic. He then joined the submarine service earning a Silver Dolphin on a World War II diesel submarine. Receiving his command, he served on many nuclear submarines, earning his Gold Dolphin under Admiral Rickover during the Cold War and on alert through the Cuban missile crisis.
He retired from active service with the rank of lieutenant commander and earned a college degree in order to work in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as a civilian consultant to the Navy. He returned to East Hampton and worked in traffic control for the Town Police Department until the fall of 2008.
An avid golfer, he was a member of Sag Harbor Golf Club and the South Fork Country Club. Among other organizations, he was a past member of the Sag Harbor Fire Department, Amagansett Fire Department, American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 419 in Amagansett.
He is survived by his wife, Mary (née Collins) Bennett of East Hampton; a daughter, Mary Ann Bennett of Massachusetts; three sons, Sean Bennett of Sag Harbor, James Bennett Jr. of Connecticut and Charles Bennett of Massachusetts; a brother, David Bennett of Oregon; and five grandsons.
A funeral mass was held on February 2 at St. Andrew’s Church in Sag Harbor. Interment of ashes will be at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 1905, Amagansett, NY 11930 or a charity of choice would be appreciated by the family.
on Feb 3, 2009