Born November 6, 1923, Wallace G. Bennett was the oldest of Wallace Foster and Frances Grant Bennett's five children. Bennett entered the University of Utah in 1941, where he worked as the Business Manager of the Daily Utah Chronicle while a student. From 1943-1948, his studies were interrupted, first by his military service in World War II, followed by serving a British Mission, from 1946-1948, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During his mission he served as Secretary to President Alma Sonne. He and President Sonne traveled together throughout Europe to provide much needed resources to European members of the Church devastated by WWII. He returned to the U of U and earned a BA in Military Science in 1949.
Bennett served on active duty twice. He was Commissioned in Field Artillery and later transferred as an officer to Infantry. He served nearly a year in Japan following the end of World War II. When the Korean War broke out, Wally was recalled to active duty and served 16 months as the Information and Education Officer at the Presidio in San Francisco. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1952.
In 1948, he started as a sales clerk at Bennett Glass and Paint, where he worked in many different positions, including his last five years there as the president of the company. In 1980, Bennett began a 20-year career in the financial services industry by becoming a Certified Financial Planner.
Bennett was a member and leader of many civic organizations, boards, and charitable organizations, including The Rotary Club, The Boy Scouts of America, The American Cancer Society, The Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, The National Paint Organization and many more. He worked on the political campaigns of his father, Sen. Wallace F. Bennett, and his brother, and Sen. Robert F. Bennett.
While completing his military service in San Francisco, Bennett met Theda Call. They were married in 1951. Years later, he and his wife Theda were called back to England, this time to preside over the England South Mission. Theda died in 1993. Bennett later married Betty Sturm Foulger on May 27, 1994. Betty died in 2002. Bennett then met and married Marie Barker Nelson on August 15, 2003. Marie passed away in 2018.
The Wallace G. Bennett papers contain correspondence from his time serving in the military during WWII, along with a few letters from his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Included in the collection is a brief history of the European mission and several published and unpublished family histories.
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The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Donated by Wallace G. Bennett in 2012.
Processed by Manuscripts Division staff.
See also the Wallace F. Bennett papers (MS 0290), the Robert F. Bennett papers (ACCN 1423), and the Marie Barker Nelson Bennett papers (ACCN 1664) located in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.