| Benny, Willie Charlotte Bullock | |
| Birth: | 2-4-1938 |
| Death: | 3-5-2023 |
| Comments: | Metal marker at time of survey; cremated |
| Burial: | Harmony Cemetery |
| Notes: | Originally recorded in a survey on 9--16-2023 and updated on . |
| Obituary: | Willie "Charlotte" Benny Willie Charlotte Benny of Hatch, age 85, born Willie Charlotte Bullock, entered eternal rest on Sunday, March 5, 2023 in Las Cruces, NM. She was born on February 4, 1938 in Prescott, Arkansas to Cornelia Barham and Howard Arthur Bullock. She was born in the home of her paternal grandmother Willie Lambert Bullock Franks and still had her grandmother’s bureau as a memento of her birth. She lived in the rural woods of Arkansas in an area known as Sutton and Harmony where her grandparents were raised until the family moved closer to town to be near relatives. Even at her young age, she remembers her family moving in the middle of the night in a wagon led by horses. Charlotte was the oldest of six Bullock siblings whose ages spanned sixteen years. She had three brothers: James Howard Bullock of Prescott, AR; Leslie Arthur Bullock of Prescott, AR; and John Samuel Bullock of Levelland, TX and Del Rio, TX. She had two sisters: Glenda Gail Bullock Mitchell of North Hollywood, CA and Susie Bullock Stewart of Little Rock, AR. Charlotte was predeceased by her son Patrick Howard Benny of Hatch, NM; her parents Howard and Cornelia Bullock; her brother James and her sister Glenda; maternal grandparents Lillian Rhea and Charlie Carnelis Bullock of Sutton, AR; her paternal grandfather Emanuel Classie Bullock of Stamps, AR at his time of death, her grandmother Willie Lambert Bullock Franks of Sutton, AR and later Prescott, AR, and her step grandfather James W. Franks of Prescott, AR. Charlotte saw herself as her siblings’ second mother. She often told her siblings that they were constantly held by her or their mother as babies. she kept them entertained without TV by gathering them together on the living room floor to read classic novels such as “Jane Eyre“. She did her best to help her mother care for her brothers and sisters as her father would sometimes work away from home. She also cared for her paternal grandmother and her step grandfather James W. Franks, who she spent a great deal of time with when she was young and who she loved very much. She said he generously helped the family and her grandmother who had raised with four young children by herself at age 25. Papa Franks would take her to his work as the county clerk and also as a magistrate judge. She said he would give her scrap paper and pencils to draw with while he worked. She helped care for him when he became older and lost his sight. Charlotte felt a responsibility to help support the family and from the time she was a teenager she worked to contribute to the family. She believed an education and work would allow her to do this. Over the years, she babysat for several families and worked at her cousin’s hamburger restaurant in Little Rock. Charlotte said was ready to read by age two, but she couldn't get anyone to teach her. In school, Charlotte had a great love for mathematics and science, especially physics. She graduated Valedictorian from Prescott High School in Prescott, Arkansas in 1956. She then attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She took extra classes each semester to try to graduate as soon as possible. Charlotte left college early to begin teaching at the school in Emmet, Arkansas a few miles away from home and continued to take classes by correspondence and during summers until she graduated with a B.S.Ed. In 1963. She also taught at Fort Smith, AR; Gonzalez, TX; and Sembach Air Force Base in Sembach, Germany. She was teaching in Texas when President John F. Kennedy died in Dallas and she remembered his death’s impact on TX. Later, she was part of a group of Hatch teachers who sponsored a field trip to see the Space Shuttle that landed at White Sands. In 1986, she would learn of the space shuttle’s explosion during her prep period and went through Hatch Valley High School to tell everyone to turn on the televisions. Upon her return to the US from Germany in 1966, she learned of a math teacher opening in Hatch, NM when her brother brought a bulletin board notice. She was hired over the phone and came to Hatch with her brother Jim in his convertible Thunderbird. She had never seen a desert before and thought they should leave. God thought differently and a thunderstorm closed the interstate and they were forced to stay the night. The next day, as they were leaving, they stopped for gas at the local gas station. The gas station attendant heard them talking and telephoned the superintendent, who came over immediately and convinced them to stay. As you might have guessed by now, Charlotte never did leave Hatch. Instead, Charlotte met her husband that year. They were class sponsors together. According to Walter, Charlotte proposed near the end of the school year and he accepted before she changed her mind. He continued to remind her that she was the best thing that ever happened to him. They spent the next 56 years together and had three children, Walter Edward the III ("Ben"), Margaret Ellen and Patrick Howard, who loved them very much. The premature loss of their son Patrick drew the family closer and they were devoted to each other and overprotective. Charlotte is survived by her husband Walter Benny of Hatch, NM; son Ben and his wife Karen of Whetstone, AZ; her daughter Margaret Benny of Hatch, NM; her living siblings Leslie Bullock (Debbie) of Prescott, AR; Jim's widow Janet Martindale Bullock of Prescott, AR; brother Sammy Bullock (Marla) of Levelland, TX and Del Rio, TX and Susie Bullock Stewart (Gary) of Little Rock, AR, as well as her nieces and nephews Casey Bullock of Illinois; Andy Bullock of Iowa; Tim Dorsett of Texas; Steven Glenn Mitchell of California; Joshua Bullock, Toby Bullock and Aaron Bullock of Arkansas; John "Matthew" Bullock, Daniel Bullock, and Sarah Bullock of Texas; and Laura Stewart Edwards and Lisa Stewart Zachary of Arkansas, as well as their respective spouses and the many wonderful great grand nieces and nephews they've created to keep the Bullock name going. Charlotte spent her long career teaching Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II, Trigonometry, Calculus, Physics and Computer Science. She sponsored annual science fairs, field trips and plays. She was a great supporter of her students and encouraged them in their endeavors. She valued their talents whatever they were. She liked her students and was proud of them. In return, they showed her great love and appreciation. Before she became ill, she always said she remembered them all, where they sat in class, and who their friends and family were. They mattered to her. Charlotte always longed for her Arkansas hometown and her family, but she also loved the small desert town she originally tried to drive away from. And it loved her back. Our family thanks the people of the Hatch Valley for the love they showed for our sweet Charlotte. Service arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Baca’s Funeral Chapels of Las Cruces and Sunset Crematory, 527-2222. Your exclusive provider for “Veterans and Family Memorial Care.” For online condolences logon to www.bacasfuneralchapelslascruces.com |
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References to an "earlier record" usually refer to a survey conducted in the 1950's by the Nevada County Extension Homemakers' Clubs, the original of which is on file at the Nevada County Depot and Museum.
Since 1997, Jery and Jeanie McKelvy have conducted a periodic canvas of each cemetery in the county and use additional resources to keep the listings current.