Obituary of Agnes Bennett

Agnes Stuckwisch Cox Bennett, who moved to Chico as a newlywed in 1933, died on July 11, 2009 at the age of 95. Agnes was one of five children born to Edgar and Mabel Stuckwisch of Warsaw, Illinois, a small town located along the Mississippi River. Agnes married Dale Cox, also of Warsaw, and the couple spent their honeymoon motoring to Chico. They joined Dale's brothers, Francis and Bill and families, who had already made the move and established businesses in Chico on the heels of the Great Depression. Agnes was a quiet woman who blazed an impressive trail. As a young girl she convinced her father to allow her to attend high school, and that determination led her to be the only Stuckwisch daughter to receive a high school diploma. She had a quick mind and a natural talent for business, assisting Dale with his interests that included ownership of the Park Hotel at 4th and Main Streets in Downtown Chico, a heavy equipment business and a Chico jewelry store. The couple had two children, daughter, Vivian and son, David, who grew up appreciating their parents' entrepreneurial spirit, love of the outdoors and affinity for baseball. Agnes enjoyed fishing on the Sacramento River, spending time with family and friends and living life in the idyllic post -WWII Chico area. In addition to working with Dale, Agnes applied her business aptitude to a position with Chico Book & Stationery Store on Broadway. She became a valued employee who, over the course of her 19 years' employment, rose to the position of manager and trusted friend of the store owners. While she had many accomplishments, Agnes had never tackled getting a driver's license. After Dale's death in 1968, she learned how to drive with the help of her then-seventeen year old son. Agnes received her first ever license at the age of 54. In 1975, Chico family friends introduced her to George Bennett, a widowed Idaho rancher. The pair shared a mutual love of family, the outdoors and fishing. After a one year long-distance courtship, they were married and Agnes moved to Grand View, Idaho, where her extended family included George's grown daughters, Linda and Belva and their families. Agnes' 26 year marriage to George was marked by family events bringing together children, grandchildren and others from California and Idaho; travel, community service and many happy hours together. George passed away in 2000. When Agnes' health declined in 2006, she returned to Chico to be near her daughter and son-in-law, Vivian and Hal Hunerlach. Agnes was a wonderful, warm hearted woman with a ready sense of humor and an insatiable interest in the world around her. She was a voracious reader whose interest in historical fiction was matched by her fondness for news of world events, politics and the stock market. A quiet, caring person of impeccable integrity and fierce determination, Agnes, despite health problems in the last few years, was keenly interested in the activities of her large multigenerational family. She shared many stories of her remarkable lifetime that spanned nearly a century. And she was a passionate-- and knowledgeable--fan of the Boise State Football team, Tiger Woods and the SF Giants. Agnes is survived by Vivian Hunerlach (Hal) and David Cox (Maggie); Idaho daughters, Linda Bennett and Belva (Jack) Lawson; eight grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild, born in 2007. She is also survived by her brother, Harvey and sister, Hazel and their families. Agnes was preceded in death by husbands, Dale Cox and George Bennett and siblings Mabel and Warren. A graveside service will be held at Chico Cemetery on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 11 a.m. Agnes' niece, the Reverend Karen Watson of the Trinity United Methodist Church of Colusa, will officiate.