Catherine D. Bennett, a Bridgehampton native and resident of East Hampton Village for many years, died of complications of Covid-19 on Dec. 20 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. She was 87.
Ms. Bennett was from industrious and sturdy stock, a daughter and granddaughter of Polish immigrants who worked the land, said her son Drew B. Bennett of East Hampton.
"Some of her fondest memories were of the family farm on Ocean Road in Bridgehampton and her grandparents' farm, the former Jackson Estate in Sagaponack," he said. As a young girl, she enjoyed horseback riding, crabbing, and swimming in the ocean.
She was born at Southampton Hospital on Jan. 25, 1933, to William Musnicki and the former Katherine Andrusky. After graduating from Bridgehampton High School, she went to New York City, finding employment with the Schrafft's candy, chocolate, and cake company. Returning to Bridgehampton, she worked for the C.W. Pulver gas company.
She and G. Berkley Bennett of East Hampton were married in 1955. A stay-at-home mom, Ms. Bennett brought up the couple's two children and, after they were grown, took up housekeeping. Mr. Bennett died in 2005.
A gardener, "she had the good fortune of living in East Hampton Village for 65 years and enjoying the change of seasons at Town Pond and the special vistas of the ocean beaches and the Hook Pond shoreline," her son said. A woman of faith, she was a communicant at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton.
In addition to Drew Bennett, she is survived by another son, G. Berkley Bennett Jr. of Hampton, N.H.; her granddaughters Melissa Bennett of Amesbury, Mass., Stephanie Bennett Lian of Meredith, N.H., and Georgia Bennett of New York City; two great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. A brother, Albin Musnicki of Bridgehampton, also survives. Another brother and two sisters died before her.
A funeral Mass was offered on Monday at Most Holy Trinity, the Rev. Ryan Creamer officiating, followed by burial at Most Holy Trinity Cemetery.
Ms. Bennett's family has suggested memorial contributions to Most Holy Trinity Church, 79 Buell Lane, East Hampton 11937; East Hampton Meals on Wheels, 33 Newtown Lane, Suite 205, East Hampton, or ehmealsonwheels.org/donate, and the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center, P.O. Box 63, East Hampton, ewecc.org/donate.
