If one word could describe the life of Carlos Raymond Bennett, who died January 30, 2022 after a prolonged illness, that word is determination. Born February 11, 1943, and raised by a single mother in Hinton, West Virginia, Carlos from a young age showed single-minded determination. As a child, he sold newspapers and did odd jobs to supplement his mother's job as a domestic worker. He learned to break down and rebuild everything — car engines, broken record players, children's toys. He fished and swam mountain rivers with his brother, Buren, and played hijinks on their sisters. He could not afford a car, so he pieced together various parts to build his own.

He fell in love, but fought the stigma of not being good enough for the girl he chose. Determined, he joined the Air Force then married Karen Wallace Conrad anyway. He was stationed at Castle Air Base in Merced, California, where he worked on B52 bombers, and was deployed for a time to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. He recalled helping ready pilots during the tense standoff of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. But he had bigger plans. He took his wife and children, David (Janet) Bennett and Robin (Doral) Chenoweth to Ohio, joining his mother and siblings there. His daughter, Heather (Neil) Hicks was born while he and coworkers were on strike at NCR. Working multiple jobs to pay bills, he decided to become a realtor. He went on to sell hundreds of properties in the Middletown region, and founded several businesses, including Steel Structures of Ohio and Bennett Construction.

In 1992 he married Ann Purdum. They spent many days on their farm near Dayton, enjoying their Tennessee Walkers: Smoke, Shadow, Boomer and Bella. He loved babies and children, and welcomed all his grandchildren to ride horses, hike trails and catch tadpoles in the farm's pond. Summer weekends found Carlos and Ann on their Brookville Lake pontoon boat, laughing and swimming with the family.

Since 2019, he fought his diagnosed Alzheimer's Disease with the same determination that he lived his life. He never lost his sense of humor. Days before he passed, he was still playing pranks on his family and laughing as his grandson, Hunter, sang to him.

Carlos is preceded in death by his mother, Lorene (Mort) Collins, and brother, Buren (Gayle) Bennett. He leaves behind his loving wife Ann Bennett, her children Jeremy (Charity) Jackson and Christy Handorf. His grandchildren are Hunter and Hannah Hicks, Tyler and Julia Bennett, Cassandra and Kurtis Chenoweth, Elizabeth and Allison Handorf, and Andrea and Brenden Jackson. He also leaves behind sisters Patty (Bob) Powers and Shirley Brooks. His family will miss him dearly, until they meet again at last.

Visitation services are planned for Friday, February 25, 2022, from 1:00 -3:00 p.m. at Baker-Stevens-Parramore Funeral Home, 6850 Roosevelt Ave., Middletown, Ohio 45005. Funeral services will follow at 3:00 p.m. Interment will be at Woodside Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.bakerstevensparramore.com.