Donald Marsh never understood how his half-brother, Jim Bennett, could stand to make a living underground. "He wouldn't quit," Marsh said of Bennett, 61, of Philippi, W.Va. "Hell, he loves the mines." Bennett, a coal miner for several decades, also was a religious man, relatives said. "Every day he would come home and pray for who was going in (the mines)," said his son-in-law Daniel Merideth.
Bennett didn't talk about work much but had planned to retire this year. "Right now he is probably in there witnessing to people," Merideth said earlier. "He would be organizing and praying."He passed away in a mining accident with 11 of his coworkers after lightning sparked an explosion.His parents are Gail Arbogast Bennett and the late Perca Bennett. He was member of Buckhannon Union Mission Church.Surviving are his wife, Lily M. Foster Bennett of Volga, W.Va.; his mother, Gail Arbogast Bennett of Volga, W.Va.; son, John A. and wife, Laura, of Florence; daughter, Cheryl Ann and husband, Daniel Merideth, of Moatsville, W.Va.; grandsons, Chad A. Bennett of Beverly, W.Va., and John Darnell III of Ashville, Ohio; granddaughters, Danielle Bennett of Elkins, W.Va., and Ashley Darnell of Ashville, Ohio; step-grandsons, Daniel Merideth Jr., and Justin Merideth of Moatsville, W.Va.; step-granddaughter, Melissa Merideth of Moatsville, W.Va.; great-grandson, Grant Bennett of Beverly,W.Va.; great-granddaughter, Lexus Bennett of Beverly, W.Va.; brothers, Frank Marsh of French Creek, W.Va., Gene Marsh of Timmonsville and Don Marsh of Century, W.Va.; and sisters, Jane Kelley of Buckhannon, W.Va., and Rose Poling of Philippi, W.Va.He was preceded in death by his father, Perca Bennett; and his granddaughter, Kristie Bennett.