Funeral services for Phyllis Bennett of Cookeville were held June 13 at Washington Avenue Baptist Church with interment  following in DeKalb Memorial Gardens in Smithville. Rev. Mark Gaw and Dr. Robert Ward officiated.
Phyllis joined her Lord and Savior on June 9.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Henry Clarence Redmon and Evelyn Redmon as well as her daughter, Tiffany Rodgers.
She is survived by her husband and soul mate of 28 years, Weyman (Wayne) H. Bennett;  a  son, Milburn S. (Patty) Rodgers III of Cookeville;  a sister, Faye Fuqua of Smithville; a brother, Terry (Phyllis) Redmon  of Lebanon; two  grandsons, Matthew Rodgers, Murfreesboro and Nickolas (Bethany) Rodgers; one great-grandchild, Aaron S. Rodgers, Cookeville; Barbi Rodgers Malfi of South Carolina;   three step-children,  Gary Bennett of Minneapolis, Minn., Nancy (Colin) Manning,  Hendersonville, Christian (Lisa) Bennett  of Hixson; and four step-grandchildren, Courtney, Madison, Christian and Hailey Bennett, all of Hixson. 
Phyllis began her career in 1973 with the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency. In 1978, she was appointed executive director until 2011 when she was hired as a consultant to the agency. She served 4 years as President of the Tennessee Association of Human Resource Agencies as well as being selected Who's Who in American Business Women.
During her 34-year tenure as Executive Director, she not only established but practiced the agency's motto of "Delivering Hope" to the people of the area by  providing  access to services through each of the 14 county offices she established. Her giving spirit showed daily when seeing or riding UCARTS or CATS (Cookeville's first mass transit system) traveling our streets and highways or providing home-delivered meals and electrical assistance to the most needy in the region. Phyllis's accomplished goals show when visiting or seeing Tennessee  Careers Centers or when visiting Lakeside Resort and Educational Complex, which was to help displaced workers through educating for new careers or promoting existing ones in the hospitality industry. The needs of our young people were never far from her heart.  The Upper Cumberland’s need to house and council young people are realized through the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency's Residential centers; Chance, Indian Mound and Cumberland Mountain School. 
Her visions for delivering this hope were made reality by her leading role in the expansion of Cover Kids, which provides insurance for uninsured children in low income homes, the Imagination Library; the Highland Initiative with the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce and N.C.D.S. Inc. and numerous other programs that assisted those in need. Although her passion was to provide for all in need, her heart was always for the people of the Upper Cumberland Region. She had an understanding of the needs for the rural area residents and fought to supply these needs.  
Hooper Huddleston and Horner Funeral Home in Cookeville was in charge of arrangements. 
SMITHVILLE REVIEW
Smithville, TN
June 20, 2012
www.hhhfunerals.com