William G. Bennett

William Gordon Bennett was born on November 16, 1924, in Glendale, Arizona, to Allen Milton "Jack" Bennett, a local rancher, and Marjorie Dean Williams. Bennett's grandfather Archilbald W. Bennett came to Arizona from Kansas in 1898, settling in Peoria before moving to Glendale. Archibald constructed and operated the Glenwood Hotel in Glendale and became the town's first mayor upon incorporation in 1910. William attended Glendale High School and Phoenix College and served as a Navy dive-bomber during World War II. Following his return from the war, he established a chain of furniture stores in Phoenix. Bennett's stores were successful and he lived a lavish lifestyle with a home on Exeter Boulevard in the upscale Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix and membership in the prestigious Phoenix Country Club. On March 15, 1962, Bennett's wife Barbara died whilst on vacation with him in Guaymas, Sonora; he sold the furniture store to focus on alternative investments and remarried to Lynn Hummel, an administrative clerk at the store, later that same year. A friend of Bennett's established a financial corporation for his investments. Mismanagement of the company caused the value of Bennett's considerable stake to plummet, bankrupting him.