Jean Bennett Memorial Service

Order of Service

Processional-Hymns (iTunes-Alan Jackson) (Family will not process)

Welcome-Pastor Tom Maddux

Song-Celine Dion Goodbyes- iTunes

Obituary—Pastor Tom Maddux

Song: Amazing Grace-Pastor Ronnie and Beverly Luke

Song; Old Rugged Cross-Pastor Ronnie and Beverly Luke

Video Presentation

Concluding Remarks: Pastor Tom Maddux. (Tom once you watch the video you can do the concusion like you want).

Recessional—Hymns (iTunes-Alan Jackson)

Welcome (Tom)

We are honored to be here sharing this special day with you, family and friends. We are here to do three things today: 1. Celebrate the life of Jean Bennett, 2. Offer comfort to this family, and 3. Praise the Lord/Lift up the name of Jesus —

Pray

Listen to this song and I will be right back to tell you about my friend, Jean Bennett.

Song - “Goodbyes” by Celine Dion

Obituary (Tom)

Delorise Jean Bennett Obituary

Delorise Jean Bennett, 81, of Brunswick, passed away at Gracemore Nursing and Rehab on October 29, 2025, under the care of Hospice of the Golden Isles.

Delorise was born on July 7, 1944, in Ocilla, GA, to the late Homer Woodrow and Lila Mae Tucker. She was one of 17 children.

She was a great seamstress and many probably knew her as the owner of B’s Alterations in Downtown Brunswick. She owned the shop for over 25 years. Besides sewing and alterations, she also loved word search puzzles, adult coloring books, and was a surprisingly avid wrestling fan. But above all else, Delorise loved spending time with her family and grandchildren.

Delorise was preceded in death by her parents; and four of her brothers, Tim Tucker, Crawford Tucker (Annette), J.P. Tucker (Gail), and Vaughn Tucker.

She is survived by her children, Jimmy Cone (Lena), Cindy Cone Melton (Kenny), Gloria Cone Hall, Andy Cone (Jennie), Wayne Bennett (Angie), Kevin Bennett (Tabitha); 20 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; one great great-grandchild, and 2 great great-grandchildren due in November; her siblings, Lawrence Tucker (Helen), Donie Tucker, Idell Alcantara (Rico), Odell Briones, Lorena Wood (Emory), Kathy Davis (Freddie), Joe Tucker, Dee Tucker (Charlene), John Tucker (Barbara), Billy Tucker (Pam), Howard Tucker (Marie), and Richard Tucker (Joan); as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Information about Delorise Jean Bennett for Memorial Service

· Parents – Homer Woodrow and Lila Mae Tucker (both deceased).

· 6 Children

o Jimmy Cone – married to Lena

o Cindy Cone Melton – married to Kenny

o Gloria Cone Hall

o Andy Cone – married to Jeanie

o Wayne (Angie) Bennett – married to Angie

o Kevin Bennett – married to Tabetha

· 20 Grandkids

· 27 Great Grandchildren (plus 2 more on the way)

· 1 Great Great Grandchild

· Brothers and Sisters – She was one of 17 children

o Lawrence (Helen) Tucker

o Donie Tucker

o Idell (Rico) Alcantara

o Odell Briones

o Lorene (Emory) Wood

o Kathy (Freddie) Davis

o Joe Tucker

o Dee (Charlene) Tucker

o John (Barbara) Tucker

o Billy (Pam) Tucker

o Howard (Marie) Tucker

o Richard (Joan) Tucker

· Deceased Brothers

o Tim Tucker

o Crawford Tucker

o JP Tucker

o Vaughn Tucker

Just a little more information about her

· Owner of B’s Alterations in Brunswick for over 25 years

· Avid Wrestling Fan

· She loved Word Search puzzles and coloring in adult coloring books or online.

· Truly cherished spending time with her family, especially her grandkids

Notes from Pastor John’s Video

 Hey there everyone, I apologize for not being able to be with you in person today, but I did wanna take a few moments and share some words about someone who is very, very special to me. And, um, I, I, I know that she has impacted a lot of lies, but from the moment that she came into Bay Harbor, there was something different about Jean Bennett.

She came in and, just a short time, the few years that I have known her, she's made an incredible impact on my life and has become an inspiration of sorts to me and so many others.

And so today, when I, when I think about her, there's one verse in particular that comes to mind. It is Isaiah chapter 26 and verse three, and reading from the New Living Translation, it says this, you will keep in perfect peace All who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you to understand the implication of this verse in its entirety. We, we, we look back at what was happening with God's people in Isaiah 26.

They were going through a difficult time in their life. They had made some poor decisions and they were facing some difficulties, but yet God sent this word to them through Isaiah at this particular time in human history, to let them know that even though you're going through difficulties right now, that there's a future that lies ahead of you. And they were challenged to continue to trust the Lord. They were challenged to exalt him and to praise him and to continue on with life, knowing that there was something beyond what they're facing.

I can't imagine what it is that you as a family are going through. Even now for some of you, you've lost your mom, your grandmother, your great-grandmother, your great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother. You've lost someone that you care about and someone that you would worship together in church services with, and, yet with all of that, there are promises that we see in God's word.

And so as we turn to verse three in particular, we see something that stands out in the passage. And the first part of this that it talks about is who those whose mind is is stayed. Now, that's the way that the King James says it. The King James Bible says that that translation says he will keep in perfect peace.

Those whose minds are stayed on the Lord because they trust the Lord. I like that. And when it talks about stayed or fixed, that word is rich in meaning. It could actually mean your imagination, or it can mean that your mind is propped up on the Lord himself. And when I look at this, what I really see is that the word comes down to determination.

If there is any word that could be used to describe Jean Bennett, it would be determination.

Now I have to say. When it comes to determination, there's a fine line between determination and stubbornness, and she walked that line beautifully. There was something about her. Now I, I gotta say that any woman who says that, I'm gonna come back from heaven and thump you in the back of the head to one of her children.

That's someone that I love. And even when she would come into this church now, we know what we saw. We saw this loving person. We saw this quiet personality, but there was something far more to Jean Bennett than just that. Don't think that we didn't see it. She had this personality about her and I can almost see that grin and I know she'd get you.

There'd be times that she would come in and she would sit in her same spot all the time. It wasn't until recently that I realized why she was sitting there. She would sit there because she wanted to hear me, and she didn't really like wearing those hearing aids all the time, but she made sure that she was sitting in the same location.

And so with this, she'd come in and she'd look around and she wouldn't see me, and she'd turn to Gloria and she'd say, oh, I don't see Pastor John. I wonder who it is that's gonna be preaching today. I love that about her, and I love the determination that was inside of her, but you don't live to the age that she lived without being determined that you're gonna make it.

There's something about the statement that only the strong survive, and that was certainly her. And then something happened when she came to the Lord. Now, I'm not gonna paint a perfect picture today because none of us fit that role. There was only one who lived a perfect life on this earth, and I know that even towards the end of her life that she struggled with some things within her mind, but yet there was a determination and a strength inside of her that once she really surrender her life to Jesus Christ took on a completely different meaning, but the passage continues.

Not only are we to have a determined mind, our mind is fixed on the Lord, but we see the reason, the reason for the determination that we have in the Lord is because we trust in the Lord. To Israel at that time, and Isaiah, as they were writing this, Isaiah was wanting to encourage the people that even though you're faced with uncertainty and even though you're going through difficult times, if you'll trust the Lord, he'll take care of you, and he has a future for you that you can't even imagine in the moment.

And so when you look at the combination of the two of them, when you look at the combination between just the determination of what was going on inside of her, coupled by the trust that she had in the Lord, it paints a completely different picture. And it's one that I, I draw inspiration from even when it relates to Jean Bennett, because she determined in herself that she was gonna trust the Lord.

I see that determination because really a good indication of someone who trusts the Lord is how they act towards the Lord. You know, she made up her mind that she wanted to be in the house of God. So much so that she would come when she wasn't feeling well. She would come when she would come, really? When she probably shouldn't have, but she wanted to be here and that's that.

That is an inspiration to me, especially when I look around and I see some people. That would make any excuse not to come. That wasn't her. It's been said that the two worst weather days for a pastor is when it is raining and when the sun is shining because they look for excuses not to come, but not Jean Bennett.

She trusted the Lord so much and wanted to get close to him that she would come to the house in one of her recent hospital stays. She, she actually asked the doctor, can I check out for just a couple of hours? Um, and, and I'll come back, but can I check out for just a couple of hours to go to the house of God?

What an inspiration that came from her trust. I also see that as, as it relates to life groups, life groups is what we here at Bay Harbor have for our discipleship times. And she was trusted the Lord and wanted to get closer to him and grow in him, and, and wanted to be around God's people. So she went to life groups.

Now most people sign up for just one of them. Not Gene Bennett. She signed up for as many as she could possibly go to. I don't know how many that she drug Gloria to, to make sure that she was was, that was in those groups, to be around God's people to learn from his word. She soaked it up like a sponge.

But I must say, and you may have already heard about this today. That determination that was seen in how she trust the Lord was clearly evident when she was on this stage one day being baptized in water. Now she was nervous about it and I was nervous about it, but for different reasons. She was nervous because of a tragedy that you experienced as a family to where to, to where something happened with water, with a drowning, but.

This was, it was different for me. For me. I was just nervous for her. And I mean this respectfully, but somebody at her age having to get up on the stage, having to step on a block, having to step over the rim of, of, of the baptismal tub, having to sit down, be bent backwards, and then get up and get off and get down the stage.

It made me nervous, but she was determined to do it. Her mind. She said, if this is what the Lord wants from me, I'm gonna trust him no matter how I feel about it. And so because she was trusting him that much, I was gonna trust him with that. So they came up. It was a beautiful time. I was so excited.

And Gloria just looked at me. She says, now she don't have her hearing aids in. So you're gonna have to talk loud. So here I am yelling at her trying to get her and let her know what was going on. But I will tell you that at the end and after she went through it and did it, that something completely, it left me a mark on my life. And one of the memories that I will take with me in ministry was the opportunity to see that.

And where did it come from? It came all 'cause she trusted in the Lord. Isaiah in this verse finishes up or actually starts out with the reward of that. When you have a mind, a determination, a mind that's made up, that you're gonna serve God no matter what, and you're gonna trust him, even when you don't see the outcome, then you are rewarded with something and the reward is perfect.

Peace. Perfect peace. To them. What he was trying to tell them is that, that if you'll press in there, there's, there's something that God has for you, a reward that he gives you that's not just here, but it's for eternity. And really the combination of those two words, perfect and peace. When you look back and you see that from the perspective, uh, of, of the Hebrew language that it was first wrote in, what it translates is, I will reward you.

I will keep you. I will preserve for you. Shalom. Shalom. It is a phrase that combines the two words. It is a double portion of God's completeness, of God's healing of God's wholeness. I will bless you with Shalom. Shalom. That Shalom would not be in the absence of war. Shalom, Shalom. Shalom will be found in the person of Jesus Christ.

And years before that ever happened, years before Jesus ever came, we see the promise of him being given to his people. If you'll fix your mind on the Lord, if you'll trust him, then there'll be a peace that would come upon your life. You can't even begin to imagine. For me, I believe that Jean Bennett experienced that.

I believe that she had an encounter with the fulfillment of that promise through Jesus Christ himself. And when Jesus came in to her life, there was a change that took place. I don't know what she was like before we met her a few years ago. I don't know where she came from. I don't know all the struggles.

I don't, I know there had to be some, I don't know any of that. And I know that even after that, that it wasn't a life that was filled with perfection, but I know that there was something inside of her that was different. And because she accepted that, not only did she receive that reward here, but she also is continuing to live with him now because on that day and that night.

Whenever she breathed her last breath here, she was instantly in the presence of the one who saved her, the one who alone has the power to change or to do anything in her life, and to you as a family today, her biggest desire is for you to experience that perfect piece as well. Her last words to me, and she said it strongly was, I want to go home. She was determined. I mean, she got to a place where she said, I don't want this dialysis anymore. I'm not doing it. She did it one more time for some of you and I understand what you were in a difficult place.

Her mind was made up, and the reason that it was made up is because she had that perfect peace. You know, because that's another indication of someone who trusts the Lord, is not just how they act towards him, but how they view death. And because that peace came on her life so strongly, she could face death with such confidence, not in herself, but in her savior.

For you, you're gonna have some uncertain days ahead. You're gonna miss her. You're gonna grieve her. It's all natural and you really, you should, but there's a peace that you can experience today if you haven't experienced it. It's a peace that she had and is found in Jesus. Jesus is the one, and I know that too often, too many people think that once you die, you're automatically with Jesus in heaven.

That only comes. When you trust in him surrendering your complete life to him and through a determination that you're gonna continue to trust him all the days of your life and live out that relationship, Jesus gives that to you. I wanna pray for you today. Thank you so much for allowing me this time, but I wanna pray for you today.

That you will experience that peace not just in missing mom, grandma, great-grandma, great-grandma, great-great grandma, but that you'll have that peace and that determination in your life that you can trust the Lord. Father, we do thank you for who you are. We thank you for this moment. We thank you for a lovely woman who impacted so many, but Lord, that impact that she had on us pales in comparison.

To the impact that you want to make in every one of our lives, how that you want to change us for eternity? God, I pray that this family would follow her example. God, they'll receive it, and when they do, they'll experience the shalom. Shalom. They'll experience that perfect peace. We thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen.

Gifts

Thimble

Seamstress takes fabric and make something beautiful - takes a mess and makes adjustments, alterations

Small in stature but big in presence

Hard - strength

Before I go, I have some gifts that I want to present to the children. I know this might seem small, but it's really significant. I want to give each of you a thimble. Now I recognize that um, she was one who, uh, was a seamstress by profession, business owner. I know that, um, that she did that and, and, and just the thought of that, um, of someone who can take a piece of fabric and turn that into something beautiful, someone that can take what is messed up and, and, and what needs to be adjusted and make the proper changes and the alterations to fit precisely what the person is looking for and what the person needs.

And that was her. This was one of the many tools I'm sure that at some point over the years that she used, but as you receive this, I want this to be a reminder of your mother. She was a woman who might have been small in stature, but she was big in her presence. She was someone who came from a small or or a simple life, and I love that.

I love just real people, but there was something about her that was bigger than just that. This also is, is something that's hard. It has to be hard. There's a strength that it carries with it, and there was a strength even in your mother. A strength that, that, that caused, allowed her to raise all of you a strength that allowed her to continue on in difficult times, a strength that she had inside of her.

I, I, I can remember the second to the last time that I was with her, I went in there and grabbed her hand and there was such strength. Even at the end of her life. There was such a strength in that hand. She, she wouldn't let go of some one of you even tried to, to, to get her to, to let go and, and she wouldn't.

And it was okay with me because I remember that strength. And when you look back at your mom, I want you to be reminded even through this, of the strength that she had. But there's something else reason that this is there is to protect. To protect the finger so that the work can continue. And even though she might not have always gotten it right, she did her best to do what she could do to make sure that you were covered, to make sure that you were protected, to make sure that you had everything that you needed.

And so now as you live without her, it's gonna be difficult, but I want you to know that there's a covering that comes from the Lord. If you'll trust him, he'll give you that peace that he'll cover you when you're missing her. He'll cover you with, with his, with his care because he loves you and he is always there for you.

Thank you so much. God bless you.