David N. Bennett

Mr. David Newell Bennett, 73, of Berea,, the husband of Jan Davis Bennett, passed away Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at his home.

David, the son of the late William “Pepper” and Nancy Christopher Bennett, was born in Richmond on April 5, 1952. He was a 1970 graduate of Model High School and continued his education at EKU. David was a retired employee of Hyster/NACCO with over forty years of service.

Survivors include his wife, Jan of Berea; one son: Ryan Davis Bennett originally of Berea now residing in Fort Walton Beach, Fl; one sister: Kathy Bennett Campbell (Biff); two brothers: Robby Bennett (Patsy) and Gary Bennett (Clara); a sister-in-law: Rita Hillard (Ernest); two brothers-in-law: Jim Davis (Patty) and Rick Davis (Linda) as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Funeral Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 10, 2025, at the Combs, Parsons & Collins Funeral Home, 328 West Main Street, Richmond, with Dr. Glenn Burkett officiating. Burial will follow in the Berea Cemetery.

The family will receive friends from 5 - 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

Pallbearers are Lawson Hon, Wyatt Hon, Josh Carlin, Jason Bennett, Brennan Bennett, and Jeff Saylor.

Honorary Pallbearers are Bill Abney, Dennis Blackburn, Larry Duerson, Bill Dooley, Bryce Gill, Danny Pennington, Jimmy Lamb, Billy Linville, Clyde Powell and Lyle Walker.

David was always ready for a golf game, in Madison County or on one of the many golf trips he enjoyed with his golfing buddies. Although they rarely kept "score", David always knew what he (and everybody else) had shot that day. He shared his love for golf with his son, Ryan, and his bonus "grandchildren" Lawson and Wyatt Hon learned to hit a ball at an early age in Dave and Jan's backyard. They both still have a passion for the game.

He inherited the gearhead gene from his father, Pepper, and passed on those McGuyver skills to his son. There wasn't much that he couldn't do mechanically, even if it took some unusual materials to generate a satisfactory end result. It wasn't always pretty, but it did always eventually work. He was extremely proud of his son's career and loved to listen to Ryan relate his mechanical stories of the day.

Classic cars, car shows, swap meets...they drew attention all his life. David owned many special cars throughout the years and typically you could find him tinkering on something in the garage. Occasionally there would be a cigar and a bourbon close by to enjoy while he tracked down a loose wire or made an improvement to the engine's performance.

The radio would typically be tuned to Classic Rock and he was more of a UK Football fan than Basketball. Ball games were a great time to get together to complain about why this coach did that or didn't do this...armchair quarterback is a real thing in the Bennett household. If there was a golf tournament on TV, that's where you would find him, watching with bourbon in hand and brushing up on his commentator skills, especially "whoa, ball".

All those years at NACCO created a tight group of buddies. The retirees meet at least once a week for their "meeting" (code name for "breakfast"), which often would last a minimum of several hours. The Honorary Pallbearers include many of these friends.

If you were lucky to be a friend of Dave's then you knew you had a friend for life. He valued his friendships and would offer his help on whatever occasion it might be: removing French Doors in the middle of the night, building swimming pools and decks for a bunch of excited kids, or helping his neighbor fix this or that. It didn't matter what it was or if it was something he had not done before, you could count on Dave to lend a hand.

There's been a parade of dogs in his life, including a few that completely stole his heart. Buddy, a boxer, adored Dave as he did Buddy. And recently, this puppy decided the Bennett house was going to be his forever home. He slithered under the fence, went in the doggy door, and was enjoying a snooze on the couch when Dave and Jan came home. David named him Houdini.