John Bennett 1939-2008
Kay Amert 1947-2008
John Bennett’s Obituary:
John Robert Bennett, 69, died September 1, 2008 in Iowa City, from prostate cancer. An “Hour of Stories” honoring John will take place 3pm, Sunday September 7 at Lensing Funeral Home in Iowa City, with a time for family greetings following the service. John is survived by his wife of thirty years Astrid Hilger Bennett, their children Colin (with fiancé Carolina Molina) of Santiago, Chile; Hanna (with husband John Thomas) of Chicago and Coralville; Ian Bennett, of Elkhart, Indiana; and John’s beloved dog Tuck.
Born in 1939 in Brooklyn, NY to John Granville and Eva Marie Ivers Bennett, John spent 6 adventurous childhood years on the Navajo Reservation in Tuba City, AZ, then moved with his family to locations in California. His high school interests were sports of all kinds; he was a California Gymnastics State Champion on the longhorse, and lettered in gymnastics as a college freshmen at Occidental College in Los Angeles. After an interlude to follow his youthful Jack Kerouac instincts, John avoided being drafted by enlisting in the US Navy, where he served on the USS Columbus for 18 months with his good friend Bob Lowe and was discharged on the eve of the Vietnam War. He likes to describe this as his running-away-to-sea phase. Returning to Los Angeles, he earned his BA in English Literature at Occidental, his MSJ in Journalism at Northwestern, became a newspaper city editor, writer and freelance photographer, and started his college teaching career at UCLA. Further teaching at Indiana University led him to the University of Iowa, where he taught from 1978 until retiring in 2008. John had a gift for strategic thinking and was devoted to tutorial-type teaching of his students. He organized the first Apple Computer college writing lab while at UI. He also served on the Iowa State Library Commission.
John and Astrid met and were married in the Bloomington (Indiana) Friends Meeting (Quaker) in 1978. An avid cook and a voracious reader, John could be found reading five books simultaneously on different topics. He was passionate on the topic of peak oil and global climate change and its implications for our children and grandchildren.
In 2002, shortly after completion of treatments for colon cancer, John became known for his rescue of a nine-year-old neighbor from the jaws of a Rottweiler. In typical fashion, he tuned out the attention and moved on.
John is also survived by his brother Clark and by his first wife, Holly Stocking. Memorials may be directed to the Friends of the Iowa City Public Library, the Johnson County Dog Park, Iowa City Hospice, or the Friends of Hickory Hill Park.
Kay Amert’s Obituary:
Kay Amert, age 60, died at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa on September 5, 2008.
Kay Louise Amert was born on November 11, 1947 at Madison, SD to Henry H. and Arlene (Schrag) Amert. She is survived by her mother -- Arleen of Madison and two brothers -- Richard and Donald (Donna) both of Madison and one sister -- Susan (Alexander Lehrman) Amert of Newark, DE.
She was preceded in death by her father.
Memorial services will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, September 13, 2008, at the First Presbyterian Church with the Rev David Johnson officiating. Inurnment will be in Graceland Cemetery. There will be a memorial service at the University of Iowa at a latter date.
She grew up in Madison graduating from Madison High School in 1965. She received her degree from the University of Iowa. Amert joined the University faculty in 1972. Trained as a typographic designer, her creative work revolves around the arts and includes design for books, journals, posters, brochures, and other media. Trained as well in historic production technologies, Amert's expertise includes the hand composition of types, hand printing, and other techniques used in print or book production. She ran the typography lab and was published extensively in the subjects of typography and the history of the book.
To send a message of sympathy visit www.weilandfuneralchapel.com.
Article about John Bennett: UI Journalism School Loses a ‘Fixture’ – Iowa City Press Citizen, September 4, 2008
Center for the Book: A Tribute to Kay Amert
Article about Kay Amert: Iowa City Remembers Typography Authority Kay Amert – The Daily Iowan, September 9, 2008