John Allen Bennett

John Allen Bennett 1/25/1964 – 12/20/2019 of Ellicott City, Maryland was born in Miami, Florida to Audrey Rose and Richard Russell Bennett.  Married to Lori A. Bennett for 34 years as of August 31st 1985, he was father of two loving children, Deanna M. Bennett and Jared L. Bennett and brother to Richard R. Bennett, the late Robert G. Bennett and the late Jennifer M. Crow.

Through his early years, John Allen moved with his parents and siblings to various states near the East Coast and then throughout Florida during the hard economic times of the 1980s with the family mainly being in the concrete construction business.  John often returned to Orlando for long stays with his Aunt Hillary and Uncle John Van in Orlando.  Being literally “the boy next door,” he would occasionally spend times playing board games with Lori while John’s Cousin Stephanie and Lori’s younger sister, Ileana Joslyn, gathered as playmates.  Eventually through their teenage years, John and Lori’s friendship turn to love and then marriage.

During his early married years in Orlando, John joined the Local Union 1765.  Starting as an Apprentice for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, he schooled every Wednesday evening and all day Saturday for two years to earn his Journeyman’s Certificate in May of 1990. 

John loving the craft as he did, eventually developed and honed his skills to Master Carpenter status and “Jack of All Trades.”  As a union member, he had many Walt Disney World projects under his belt such as but not limited to the Dolphin and Swan Hotel, the Grand Floridian, the Opryland Hotel, the Hard Rock Café, Typhoon Lagoon, Animal Kingdom and various renovations at Universal Studios and Epcot.  John was often sought out by many construction companies for his talent, attention to detail and persistence.  Additionally, his ability to address unexpected issues on the construction site and thus showing his leadership skills eventually lead him to work for Elfrink Construction Company as a project manager.  During these commercial construction years, he managed construction sites of well-known companies as Starbucks and Godiva in addition to many other popular mall stores, food courts and restaurants in Orlando and the surrounding areas requiring some travel.

While the years passed in Florida, John enjoyed hunting and riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle but John’s favorite sport was fishing.  Whether fishing the shores or out on the sea with family and friends on his Trophy fishing boat, he especially enjoyed his time with his grandfather, Lou Ohlidahl.  When together, they weathered the worst of conditions to catch the “big one” and many stories have come from their adventures.  During and after their days together, John shared his love of fishing with his daughter and even went on many boat outing’s even during the night.  Educating Deanna on driving the boat at an early age, they teamed up to load and offload the boat together.  Deanna, still till this day and at the age of 28, loves to fish anytime the opportunity arises.

In the early 2000s, John and his wife took on the construction of two homes over a period of five years in Orlando’s Lake Mary Jane and Moss Park area.  It was during this time their son, Jared, was born and new adventures began.   However, after suffering from a debilitating back injury and the closure of his wife’s employer Qimonda, formerly Infineon Technologies, John and his family were uprooted and moved to Mechanicsville, Virginia to follow her career in the Semiconductor Industry. 

During his days in Virginia, he and his son joined the Cub-Scouts with John as a den leader for Pack 555.  Following through with his son’s participation, John was a Tiger Scout, Bear Cub and then Wolf Den leader.  Meeting many other families and gaining friends along the way, he enjoyed many Cub Scout events with Jared and camping with family and friends. 

However, once again due to economic downturn (2008-2009), his wife took a position with Northrop Grumman in Linthicum, Maryland and traveled home weekends for almost two years while John stayed behind with their children and until their daughter graduated high school.  Soon thereafter John joined Lori and settled in Ellicott City to raise their son.  As their daughter was further educated in Virginia, gaining a degree as a Medical Laboratory Technician, their son grew up and enjoyed all his schools and belonging to the Mt. Hebron High School Marching Unit.  John so proud of his son with his persistence to play the trumpet for the band, attended as many events as possible and cheered him on when passing by during a march.

Later in Jared’s high school years, he was introduced to mountain biking and joined the Mountain Lions unit of the Maryland Interscholastic Cycling League.  With John soon becoming a coach, he was thrilled to teach young girls and boys the sport and watch his son practice and race with many kids throughout the state.  This gave John new motivation to teach himself and others bicycle repair.  John was always there to make repairs or upgrades to his family’s bikes or anyone that ever asked thus bringing Jared’s friends and their families into our home and hearts.   

Unfortunately, after two seasons of loving the exercise and the thrill of mountain biking but mostly being a part of such a wonderful organization, John’s health declined after a bad fall.  Eventually this required an extensive back surgery that sadly lead to his unexpected death from a massive stroke. 

Leaving behind his family, all his old and new friends and connections made through the few years makes his death tough for anyone that knew him well or not.  John will be sorely missed by all and a piece of our hearts go with him on his newest adventure.

In lieu of flowers the family has asked donations to be made to the Maryland Interscholastic Cycling League.

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