Lloyd Bennett

Wednesday, March 28, 1945 to Tuesday, October 16, 2007 A Resident of Marble Hill, MO Visitation Services will be held on Friday, October 19, 2007 at 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill, MO Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 11:00 AM at the Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill, MO The Final Resting Place is at the Graham Cemetery in Clubb, MO Lloyd Bennett, age 62, of Marble Hill, MO went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007, at the Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born March 28, 1945, in Clubb, MO, son of Lloyd Lee and Aleta Ellen Yount Bennett. He and Lea Ann Lowery were married July 17, 1993. Mr. Bennett was a Pool Table Maker and a member of the Grassy Friendship General Baptist Church. Survivors include: his wife, Lea Ann, one son Lloyd Allen Bennett of St. Clair, MO, and one sister, Shirley Hays of St. Peters, MO. He was preceded in death by his parents. Visitation will be Friday, October 19 from 4-7 PM., at the Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill. Funeral will be Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 11:00 AM., at the Liley Funeral Home in Marble Hill with Rev. Gene Robbins officiating. Burial will follow in the Graham Cemetery in Wayne County. Great man, better friend! I could always call Lloyd when I need his pool expertise or just needed someone to talk to. He will be sorely missed. My prayers are with you. To my dearest friend, Lea Ann: My thoughts and prayers are with you at this time of your bereavement. I know how much you loved Lloyd and that he will be sorely missed on this earth...but I also know that he will be a great addition to God's angels and will always watch over you. Lloyd was a wonderful man and good husband to you...I was close to you when you two fell in love so I know. Be strong for your sake and his, he would want you to live and be happy with or without his physical presence. My heart also goes out to Lloyd's family. I will keep you all in my prayers, hoping that you all find comfort in knowing that Lloyd is in a better place now. All my love, Jill Long Lea Ann you are in my thoughts, my prayers and my heart. Lloyd was a good man, good friend and one of the most talented people I have ever known. He was always ready to help a friend and he taught me a lot about pool tables and pool sticks. He will be missed greatley. I'll never forget the day I gave you away to Lloyd. Two beautiful people who were ment for each other. You will always have a place in my heart and I will allways love you. I wish I could be there for you. Loyd was one of a kind, good friend. My heart goes out to Lea Ann and to Lloyd's family. Love: Sonny Russell Our Deepest Sympathy There are not many craftsmen in today's world. Lloyd Bennett was a craftsman in wood, and his specialty was in the billiard business. He was a master craftsman who could build a pool table from scratch, fix an old table and make it as good as new, sew leather pockets by hand, and repair any cue stick he was handed. He was an expert refinisher who loved to tackle an antique pool table and bring out its natural beauty. To watch him work was like seeing an artist create something from nothing. I first met Lloyd when we were teenagers at A E Schmidt Co. in St Louis. My uncle, Arthur, had hired LLoyd to work in the factory making and repairing pool tables. Lloyd was taken under the wings of Gene Duncan and Ray Kester, an older generation of master craftsman who worked at A E Schmidt Co. most of their working lives. From Gene Duncan, Lloyd learned everything about building pool tables - building frames, drilling holes in the slate beds, putting rubber cushions on the rails, and many other skills. From Ray Kester, Lloyd learned how to make cues, repair cues, and turn an ivory ball. Lloyd was a quick study and kept the tradition of craftsmanship alive at the company when the older men retired. Lloyd worked for twenty years at A E Schmidt Co. and then moved back to Greenville, MO. for awhile. Missing the business, he let people know he wanted to return to work. My father, Harold, heard that Lloyd was available and arranged for him to come to Little Rock, AR for an interview to work at Jones Brothers Pool Tables where I was the manager of the store. We immediately hired Lloyd, recognizing his talents and our retail business began to grow. Lloyd was a fixture in our cue repair room and quickly all the good pool players in the state were coming around to have their cues fixed and new shafts made for them. In the mid 1980's an opportunity came for us to open a pool room in an entertainment complex and we decided to put only antique pool tables in it which we would also sell. Thus started Lloyd's first side business where we would buy the antiques and Llloyd would refinish them in a shop behind his house. The next phase of Lloyd's life was centered around the growth of Dave & Buster's, a national company which used A E Schmidt pool tables as one of their major themes in a restaurant - entertainment center. Starting in Dallas in 1982, Dave & Buster's expanded to over 40 locations in the US and 4 location in other countries. Lloyd installed the tables in a few of the early locations. But his real relationship with Dave & Buster would come a few years later. In the meantime, Lloyd had fallen in love with Lea Ann and they decided to move back to the Greenville, Missouri area where Lloyd's relatives lived. Lloyd had worked for Jones Brothers for ten years and now decided that he and Lee Ann would start their own billiard business - L A Pool Tables - in Grassy, MO. We began to send our pool tables to be refinished to Lloyd and so had my brother who has a store in Columbia. MO. Lloyd had customers as far away as New York who would send him rails to repair or tables to refinish. We also sent the more difficut cue repairs to Lloyd. As Dave & Buster's started their major expansion in the 1990's, they needed someone they could count on to recover their pool tables every 4 months. Soon Lloyd and Lea Ann (whom Lloyd had taught to recover tables) were driving or flying all over the U S working at Dave & Buster's. They did good work - and fast. How two of them could recover 14 tables in two days always amazed us at Jones Bros. L A Pool Tables and Dave & Buster's became a good fit and helped both companies grow. In Lea Ann, Lloyd had not only found a good business partner but the love of his life. They were good together - working long hours and still laughing when the work was done. I didn't see much of Lloyd after he left Little Rock, but I know he loved living in the country, being with Lea Ann, and fishing for relaxation. Lea Ann and Lloyd inspired each other to carve their own business and livelihood in a rural setting. They were a good couple. I feel privileged to have known Lloyd Bennett most of my life. He was an inspiration. If I came to him with a problem with a billiard table, his first question was always "What have you got?" When I told him the problem, he could always solve it. He was a hard and tireless worker. He helped to train one of my employees, Walter Thurman, who has become a craftsman in his own right. Above all, it was fun to watch Lloyd work. To watch a master at work - to make something look easy that is techanically very hard is a thrill. Lloyd Bennett, craftsman, will be long remembered. So many times over the last 15 years I would need advice on something related to a pool table job or a technique I could not grasp. Loyd was always glad to give his time to me. In my opinion that was Loyd's great contribution to our industry, he was willing to take the time to share his knowledge. I for one should take a lesson from Loyd and be more willing to give. Leann I am sorry for your loss. Loyd I miss you already, plan to see you someday. Mark hey LeaAnn I heard this the other day and it remined me of Lloyd he was so great to Wayne and I and his baby emma. We will always miss him so very much. Remember Wayne, Emma and I are always here. Love Brandi Artist: Paisley Brad Song: When I Get Where I'm Going When I get where I'm going on the far side of the sky. The first thing that I'm gonna do Is spread my wings and fly. I'm gonna land beside a lion, and run my fingers through his mane. Or I might find out what it's like To ride a drop of rain Yeah when I get where I'm going, there'll be only happy tears. I will shed the sins and struggles, I have carried all these years. And I'll leave my heart wide open, I will love and have no fear. Yeah when I get where I'm going, Don't cry for me down here. I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy, and he'll match me step for step, and I'll tell him how I missed him, every minute since he left. Then I'll hug his neck. Yeah when I get where I'm going, there'll be only happy tears. I will shed the sins and struggles, I have carried all these years. And I'll leave my heart wide open, I will love and have no fear. Yeah when I get where I'm going, Don't cry for me down here. So much pain and so much darkness, in this world we stumble through. All these questions, I can't answer, so much work to do. But when I get where I'm going, and I see my Maker's face. I'll stand forever in the light, of His amazing grace. Yeah when I get where I'm going, there'll be only happy tears. Hallelujah! I will love and have no fear. When I get where I'm going. Yeah when I get where I'm going. Don't cry for me down here. Ms. Lea Ann, my prayers are with you everyday since the day I met you and your husband. I will always remember Lloyd as a great guy and a teacher showing me how to take care of tables and friends. You will be missed, but someday we will reunite. God bless

Tributes

Lloyd Bennett

March 28, 1945 - October 16, 2007