This week I learned that Tom Bennett's son was valedictorian and Shirley reminded me that he was not the first in the family. As a matter of fact, by my memory, there have been at least 7 valedictorians among my parents' descendants, and this is not the only thing they could be proud of. They were always focused on their children doing their best, and "showing the world what they could do." This post is a tribute to the family legacy of this faithful, hardworking couple.




-All five of their children were married in the temple and remain faithful to the church and their families.
-All 3 sons went on missions and have served as bishops.
-All 3 sons have 2 university degrees.
-The daughters have each raised 5 fabulous children, all of whom have been married in the temple and have fine families of their own.
-The daughters and their husbands have been very successful farmers. the Cooks have half the farm that we grew up on, and they produce more crops and cattle on that half than we ever did on the whole thing (around 4500 acres.) A couple of years ago, they had 220 cows, and weaned 218 calves! The Bennetts have a large grain farm which they have enlarged and paid for and produce prodigious yields every year. They have kept very modern and use GPS guided tractors and computerized combines etc. For decades they have been the backbone of the little Spring Coulee branch and have been instrumental in building a beautiful chapel there.
-All 5 children have become multi-millionaires.
-Some of their children have excelled in sports. One has been an outstanding athlete, leading his high school basketball team to provincial championships, and is still a great golfer. Another son has won several 50 mile endurance horse races. Another family has great softball players and hunters.
-Two sons are medical doctors and have provided excellent patient care for many years.
-One son has served in the stake presidency, spearheaded a charitable organization that assists Jewish immigrants in Israel.
-I'm sure that there are many other unnoticed examples of excellence that have been quietly done without notice, and especially if we included the next generations, but if we tried to get into all of that, this blog might overload the Internet!
-Anyway, I hope that no one interprets this post as an arrogant boast, but as a grateful acknowledgment of a wonderful family with a great legacy of excellence.