Naomi Jane Bennett passed away February 24, 2026, in Tulare California. She was born in 1937 in
Burlington Massachusetts but moved to Winston-Salem North Carolina with her family in 1951. Her
parents Harold and Viola Bennett opened Bennett Memorial Home for children with severe and
profound intellectual disabilities. When her mother died in 1968 Naomi Jane became the CEO and
continued loving and caring for the children; children who often had no one else. In 1985 she closed
the home and joined her brother in Fresno California.

If you knew Naomi Jane, you knew she had a laugh as big as her heart and she was always busy.
Her high school year book lists her as a cheerleader, Girl Scout, member of 6 clubs and on the
hockey and basketball teams. She learned to shoot when she was 8 years old and became an
accomplished markswoman that won many trap and skeet tournaments as a youth and adult. She
loved Wake Forest basketball and March Madness, attended community events and drove her
Cadillac Convertible that she bought with money she won as a markswoman.

When she came to California she became active in the Shriners and went to work for a convalescent
hospital where she continued to use her nursing skills and ability to care for people less fortunate
than herself. After being injured by a patient she found a new career – travel agent. She loved to
travel and having never met a stranger she enjoyed helping people create their vacations and taking
groups on trips. She found she loved to go on cruises but really, it was always the people she met
that made travel so enjoyable.

Naomi Jane was feisty and a survivor. She survived Scarlet Fever as a young child, some major
injuries and cancer twice. In the end though, Alzheimer's disease won. She will be laid to rest at
Forsyth Memorial Park in Winston Salem North Carolina next to the father she adored.
Remembrances for this amazing woman may be made to a Veteran's organization, the Alzheimer's
Association, Shriner's Hospital or the charity of your choice.