McDonald mayor who ‘loved the job’ dies at 68
James Frazier had just retired as McDonald’s mayor and Terry Bennett was on a very short list to succeed him. But Bennett wasn’t thrilled.
“He said, ‘Absolutely not,'” Marilou Ritchie recalled with a hearty laugh. “I told him, ‘You don’t have to do anything unless I tell you.'”
Bennett acquiesced, was appointed as mayor and assumed the borough’s top government job in February 2011. For the longtime resident, it was an impressive addition to a resumé that is thicker than “Catcher in the Rye.”
He was elected, re-elected and continued to be mayor until Friday, when he died after battling cancer. He was 68.
Ritchie, borough council president, is now serving as acting mayor, as specified in the borough code.
A visible and popular figure in and around the town he called home for 59 years, Bennett was – at various times – an athlete, coal miner, coach, volunteer firefighter and public servant.
Bennett, a muscular sort, played football at Fort Cherry High School, from which he graduated in 1967, then at Wake Forest University, where as a fullback he contributed to the Demon Deacons’ run to the 1970 Atlantic Coast Conference title. He was the head wrestling coach and a football assistant at Fort Cherry, and a youth baseball coach.
A native of Morgantown, W.Va., Bennett was a miner for Mathies Coal Co. in Finleyville and Emerald Mine in Waynesburg before retiring in 1998. He was a fire boss and member of the mine rescue team for many years.
In addition to being mayor, Bennett was chairman of the borough’s zoning hearing board. And he was a former president of McDonald Belgium Club.
Survivors include his wife, Joann, three sons and eight grandchildren. Nation Funeral Home Inc., 220 E. Lincoln Ave., McDonald, is handling arrangements. Visitation there will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday in St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church, West Lincoln Avenue, McDonald, with burial afterward in Forest Lawn Gardens, Peters Township.
Although initially he wasn’t at ease with taking over the mayor’s office, Bennett apparently adjusted comfortably.
“He had this hat and a badge and wore them proudly,” Ritchie said. “He loved the job.”
Police Chief Mark Dorsey called the late mayor “a true friend” to the borough and greater McDonald area.
“He wanted to be the mayor and became quite a leader,” Dorsey said. “Terry was a tremendous supporter of our agency. He and the police department shared the same vision.
“He was a good man who was hugely respected, and will be profoundly missed by a lot of people.”
Dorsey and Ritchie said Bennett dealt with his disease for a while before succumbing to it at home.
“Terry gave it one hell of a fight,” Ritchie said.
Her voice cracked for a brief moment, then she chuckled mildly at the memories and the man.
“Terry was a good soul. He was a joy to work with,” she said. “Right now, I have a smile on my face.”