W.C. (Bill) Bennett Jr. was born in St. Louis on July 14, 1944 to William Clark Bennett Sr. and Betty Fulton Huey Bennett. He passed away in Gunnison, Colorado on Oct. 10, 2025. Bill spent his youth with his parents, brother David, sister Karen and beloved black lab, Patsy, canvassing the hills around Evergreen, Colorado, camping, hiking, skiing and enjoying nature.
Some summers he spent on Lake Erie or in Florida with his grandparents. Later, Bill attended Western State College (now Western Colorado University) where he studied English with Dr. Rouillard, Philosophy with Dr. Gery, and Art with Neil Parsons, whose work he deeply admired throughout his life.
While a student, Bill met Carol Jones, a California girl who was visiting her parents in the valley while on hiatus from teaching overseas. She would later become his wife of 54 years. All his life he loved art — making art, painting, taking photographs, writing poetry and taking road trips across the country. Many a family trip to the Great Northwest took twice the time — and yielded twice the discovery — than any route Google maps could ever provide.
Throughout his adult life, Bill had many roles in the communities where he lived, including heading up auxiliary services for the Jefferson County Public Library system, delivering mail to Powderhorn, taking care of the community schools, keeping them safe and clean for the children and teachers, working at the Western bookstore and always working on his art. Bill participated in many group and solo art exhibitions in Gunnison and across the Western Slope of Colorado.
He always welcomed artists to his Lost Canyon studio. His belief in and support for artists, including his daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren and friends, was enduring and uplifting. He always gave chefs his compliments, loved reading, lending out books from his home library, cars (Corvettes especially) and music — from Leonard Cohen to War on Drugs to his grandchildren’s classical music concerts — and would listen for the words in the songs. His Irish sense of humor would come out whenever he spent time with his brother and from it he had the knack for choosing just the right offbeat presents for birthdays and holidays that would keep the family laughing.
As a U.S. Navy veteran who spent two years based in Pearl Harbor, the Jan. 6 insurrection hurt him deeply; he loved America and our democracy. He remained politically engaged throughout his life, following the news, calling and writing elected officials to advocate for change whenever he saw injustice.
Bill’s artist statement, combining poetry and prose, captures the essence of what he strove for in art and life:
As I walk through the world
As I move around —
Everyday life
I notice and remember the shapes, colors, textures
Of things in the man-made world
And also in the natural environment. I put these impressions in my pocket and take ‘em out later in my studio as I work on new art projects. The world is a mosaic and all my art comes from fitting the pieces together and striving to make works of lasting import and beauty.
He is preceded in death by his parents and his brother. He is survived by his wife, Carol, sister Karen Bennett, daughter Kelsey Bennett and son-in-law David Klingsmith. His grandchildren are Elizabeth Klingsmith and Julien Klingsmith. His nephews and nieces are Sean Bennett (Deegan and Dakota), Deven Bennett, Esther Johnson (Reed and Bella), and Dylan Weihnacht.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Gunnison Arts Center. There will be a celebration of life for family and friends on Saturday, Nov.1 from 10 a.m-12 p.m at the West Tomichi River Park.
