Edgar (Ed) Byron Bennett

Edgar (Ed) Byron Bennett, Jr., of Signal Mountain, TN, died on May 16, 2020 at his residence. He lived to a fun loving age of 73 and really enjoyed this thing called “life.” Mr. Bennett was born in 1946 as a “first year” Baby Boomer, son of the late, Edgar Byron Bennett, Sr. and Lois Abbott Bennett. He lived his entire life in the southeast, being raised in the simplicity of 1950’s and 1960’s Decatur and Atlanta (Dekalb County), GA. After graduating from Decatur High School in 1964 and the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1969, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, his experiences in the “real” world included working in Huntsville, AL in the aerospace industry (involving many NASA and military programs including Saturn V and Skylab), followed by twenty-plus years with the Tennessee Valley Authority, both in Knoxville on the design of the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant and in Chattanooga in design and technical support at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant. Upon retirement from TVA in 1996, he led the life of a “bum,” as he termed it, doing what ever he wanted to do. He enjoyed contrasting interests, from muscle cars to raising butterflies, and loved the western US. His greatest disappointment in life was that he never developed a true “passion” for anything. Raised as a Baptist, Mr. Bennett shunned organized religion in the late 1960’s, and, although always believing that there was a Supreme Being, at the same time felt that the typical church was cloaked as a “non-profit,” hypocritical operation trying to suck in those who couldn’t find a life on their own. He is most proud of having never fathered any children, because he felt that almost all of the problems in the world today are not directly caused by all of the news media concerns such as global warming (though a significant concern), pollution, “Big Oil,” religion, politics, immigration, color of skin, country of origin, rain forest slash and burn, etc. He felt that ALL of these problems are a direct result of the over population of a fragile planet and governments that want more and more control over the people that they were elected to represent! A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, June 3rd at 12 noon in Fain Cemetery. You may leave the family online condolences at www.thomasfuneralhomecalhoun.com Thomas Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements for Edgar (Ed) Byron Bennett, Jr.