Bennett

Diane Erickson Bennett, 63, 916 Keister Road, Cherry Township, died at 7:35 p.m. Thursday at her home.

She was born April 30, 1945, in Manhattan, N.Y., the daughter of the late Carl Erickson and the late Carol Mildred Bates Erickson.

Diane had been a secretary for AETNA Insurance and General Foods.

She was a member St. Peters Episcopal Church (Anglican) in Butler, and belonged to the Daughters of the King and the Alter Guild. She also was treasurer of the church.

Diane was a 1962 graduate of Greenwich High School in Connecticut, and then graduated in 1964 from Claremont Secretarial School in Manhattan.

She was a master gardener and loved flowers and teaching others to garden. She was an avid reader and a loving presence in many lives who will be deeply missed.

She is survived by her husband, Kenneth E. Bennett Jr., whom she married Aug. 6, 1966; a son, Kenneth E. Bennett III, and his wife, Dawn, of Orchard Park, N.J.; a daughter, Sara B. Kramer, and her husband, Mike, of Slippery Rock; two grandchildren, Hailey and Brayden Bennett of Slippery Rock; a sister, Donna Erickson of Stamford, Conn.; and a brother, Theodore Erickson of Setauket, Long Island, N.Y.

She was preceded in death by her parents and an infant sister, Brenda.

<B>BENNETT — </B>Friends of Diane Erickson Bennett, who died Thursday, March 19, 2009, will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at the <B>SMITH FUNERAL HOME, </B>421 New Castle St., Slippery Rock. Services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the St. Peters Episcopal Church (Anglican), 220 S. Jefferson St., Butler, with interim Deacon Tara Jernigan officiating.Memorial donations may be made to the Glory of God in thanksgiving for the life of Diane Bennett to the Community Health Clinic of Butler County, 103 Bonnie Drive, Butler, PA 16002.