Gordon L. Bennett

BENNETT, O.C., LL.D., D.C.L., M.SC, HONOURABLE GORDON LOCKHART, teacher and educational administrator; b. 10 October 1912 in Charlottetown, son of J. Garfield Bennett and Annie Lockhart; m. first 10 August 1937 Dons L. Bernard, and they had one child, Frances Diane; m. secondly 20 August 1985 Muriel Emily Deacon, and there were no children; United; d. 11 February 2000 in Charlottetown. Bennett, a Liberal, was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in the general election of 1966 for 5th Queens. He was re-elected in the general elections of 1970 and 1974. He was appointed Minister of Education and President of Executive Council in July 1966. On 24 September 1970, Bennett became Minister of Justice, Attorney-General, and President of Executive Council. He also served as Provincial Secretary from 1972 to 1974. Bennett resigned from politics on 2 May 1974 to accept the position of Lieutenant-Governor, and was sworn in to this office on 24 October of that year. He served in that position until 1980. Bennett received his early education at Charlottetown elementary schools. Later he attended Prince of Wales College and Acadia University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in 1937. In 1947 he earned a Master of Science in Chemistry, also from Acadia University. He began teaching in St. Eleanors in 1931, but three years later returned to university. Bennett resumed teaching at West Kent School in Charlottetown in 1937, and in 1939 he was appointed to the faculty of Prince of Wales College as a member of the chemistry department. As well, Bennett served as registrar of the College. From 1985 to 1992, he was chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island. On 11 February 1984, he was sworn in as an Officer of the Order of Canada. Bennett was president of the Prince Edward Island Music Festival, the Canadian Bible Society, the Dominion Curling Association and the Prince Edward Island Branch of the Council of Canadian Unity, and provincial president of the Terry Fox Centre. He chaired the United Way Campaign and the Prince Edward Island 1973 Centennial Committee. Bennett coached the hockey and football teams at Prince of Wales College and was an official in English rugby across the Maritimes. He was a director of the Prince Edward Island Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the Canadian Club, the Rotary Club of Charlottetown and the Masonic Order. Bennett was awarded a Doctorate of Civil Laws from Acadia University and an honourary degree from the University of Prince Edward Island. He was a Paul Harris Fellow, and was inducted as a builder to the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame. Gordon Bennett died 11 February 2000. Doris Bennett was the daughter of H. Bruce Bernard.