Clifton S Bennett

Clifton Samuel Bennett; affectionately called (Brucky, Bredda, Mr. Green, Bruck kitchen and Dadda) was born in the district of Brokenhurst, Manchester Jamaica on September 26, 1945 to the late Arthur and Hannah Bennett.  He attended the Patrick Town Basic and Old England All Age Schools. Clifton would often tell stories about his childhood exploits, especially the time spent going between Brokenhurst, Harmons and “Barrot”.  He had fond memories of growing up with his siblings and going to church with his father Arthur who was one of the founders of the Windsor Forrest Church of God.  

Upon leaving school he pursued a trade as a plumber but eventually found his calling as an Auto Mechanic, the field in which he worked for over 30 years.  Clifton worked for serval prominent businesses in Mandeville; Rebhan’s Garage, Central Motors and Holsum bakery to name a few.  He also operated his own garage at the Lane gas station in Mandeville. Clifton took pride in his trade and often talked about how important it was to work neat and clean.  Those who knew him would agree that he was a proud mechanic.  Clifton had a reputation for being a good mechanic; he was one of those mechanics who had a dedicated set of customers that only wanted him to work on their cars and would often wait until he was available to work on their car.  In his spare time he loved to farm and would spend time farming on the land in Brokenhurst. 

In 1981 he migrated to Boston Massachusetts, to join his mother and siblings who migrated years earlier. In Boston Clifton worked for several Auto Shops and quickly developed a loyal customer base consisting of those who knew him from Jamaica and new customers who quickly took to him because of the quality of his work. Clifton spent 9 his first years in America traveling back and forth to Jamaica as his wife and sons remained in Jamaica until they migrated in 1990; he would return to Jamaica at Christmas time for a couple of months at a time; during his trips home he would always have customers coming by the house for him to work on their car and he would never refuse. 

Clifton had many friends and we would joke that his favorite pass time was talking on his phone.  He looked forward to getting and receiving phone calls from his friends and would spend hours talking to them about topics from when “the devil was a boy” as the saying goes.  I know there are those of you who will attest that he took his phone calls very seriously and if a certain amount of time passed that you did not return his call or call him, you would hear about it the next time he spoke to you.  He would say things like, “you phone nah wuk?” or “you can’t call?”  

Clifton had a gift for connecting with people and knew people from all walks of life.  Whenever he met someone for the first time he would start off the conversation by saying…..”tell mi sumting..” five minutes later he would figure out who the person was, where they were from, who they were related to and everything else about them or their family history.  

Clifton loved to dance and have a good time; up to his final weeks he was still trying to drop a leg to show he still had it.  Clifton took great pride in his appearance, when he got dressed and put on his very clean shoes that he spend hours cleaning, he would put his hand in his pocket and do that famous walk that we all know him for.  Clifton was also known for being a jokester; when you ran into him he always had something to say to make you laugh.  We all have our favorite stories that he has told us over the years. Clifton was a wonderful, son, husband, brother, father, grandfather, uncle, brother-in-law and a friend to many. The grandkids can verify that their grandpa was a stern disciplinarian, but at the end of the day we always knew that he loved us. 

Clifton is survived by his beautiful wife of 47 years, Monica.  He is also survived by son’s Kenton, Roan and Clifton, Daughter in Laws, Heather, Shirene and Kadian.   Grandchildren Kenton Jr., Angelina, Kayla, Samantha, Nicole, Gavin and Hannah.  Brothers and sisters; Mennel, Ethel (Alex), Veta, Rupert, Earl, Hortence and the late Monica and Kathleen.  Sister In-law Melrene and Brother In-Law Audley, Nieces Jennifer and Maxine and host of other wonderful nieces and nephews.  

After a long battle with various illnesses, God called Clifton home on May 7that 9:50 AM. He was surrounded by a host of families and friends.  Clifton waged a good battle, often bouncing back from surgeries and various hospital stays when doctors thought he would not, one of his doctors told him that he had nine lives, but we believe that he had the grace of God watching over him.  

Clifton enjoyed life to the fullest.  His memory will live on through his family and the many wonderful memories we all shared with him over the years.  Dada you will never be forgotten, May your soul rest in peace and as you would often say to us when we parted ways, ONE LOVE!