Joyce E. Bennett
Age 71, died at her home in Chardon Twp. on Saturday, September 1, 2018. She was born in Cleveland, OH on January 25, 1947, to Richard and Esther (Nee: Baker) Collier. Joyce was raised in Cleveland Hts., OH, and graduated in 1965 from Shaw High School. While attending Case Western Reserve University, she met Gary Bennett and they married on June 8, 1968, prior to her senior year. Joyce graduated in 1969, earning a BS in Art Education awarded jointly by CWRU and the Cleveland Institute of Art.

She was a skilled artist, pianist and teacher. Early in her career, she was an artist for the General Electric Co. and an art teacher in the Willoughby-Eastlake School District. The couple moved to Kirtland, OH, in 1971 when their fraternal twin sons were born. Joyce chose to be a full-time homemaker while raising her family, but also ran her own art studio, did freelance art work, taught piano lessons, and was a substitute teacher. After her sons left for college, she taught art courses for several years at Lakeland Community College and elsewhere.

Joyce enjoyed sketching, painting, gardening, fishing, boating, camping, touring the U.S. and Canada, sailing around the British Virgin Islands, and especially vacationing in a rustic cottage with her extended family on secluded Pearl Island in eastern Ontario. She was a member of the DAR, and an avid genealogist, who extensively documented her own and Gary’s family trees. They moved to Chardon in 2013, where both of their sons also live. Seeing her dear friends and extended family often during the past few years really brightened Joyce’s spirits greatly.

Her survivors include her husband, Gary of Chardon Twp.; sons, Devin (Ellen Harvischak) Bennett and Cameron (Rebecca) Bennett, both of Chardon Twp.; 4 grandchildren, Sarah, Charlotte, Jack, and Grace Anna Bennett, all of Chardon Twp.; 2 brothers, Richard (Gayle) Collier of Palm Harbor, FL and Robert Collier of Concord Twp.
A Celebration of Joyce’s life will be held at the Lantern Court of the Holden Arboretum, 9203 Kirtland-Chardon Rd., Kirtland, OH, at 12 Noon on Monday, October 8, 2018. Family and friends will gather from 11:00 a.m. until the service and a luncheon will be held following.

The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Holden Arboretum, 9550 Sperry Road, Kirtland, OH 44094, or to the Rescue Squad of the Chardon Fire Dept., 110 S. Hambden St, Chardon, OH 44024. The Burr Funeral Home and Cremation Service is in charge of arrangements. Information and condolences online at www.burrservice.com.