Phoebe Chloe McBennett was born in Wooster, Ohio, on December 31, 1939. Phoebe was the youngest of 2 sisters and grew up surrounded by family. Several years after graduating high school, Phoebe packed up her things, along with her mother, Alice, and older sister, Charlotte, and headed across the country, bound for Long Beach, California. It was the beginning of the 1960’s, and Phoebe soon settled in and began working, eventually becoming a supervisor at Mandel’s Shoe Store, located at 3rd Street and Pine Avenue at the time. Little did she know that her future husband also worked at Mandel’s as a shoe salesman, and that she would spend the rest of her life with that dashing young man from Ireland, Terence J. McBennett.
After marrying, Phoebe stopped working to raise 2 children, and when they were older, she went back to work for the Long Beach Unified School District, a career that spanned several decades and various roles in different schools, ending with her cherished position as Office Supervisor for Polytechnic High School. One of her most memorable highlights of that career, of which she had many, was winning the Classified Employee of the Year award in 2008. We were all so proud of her. Phoebe loved her job and would often work the Friday night football games to support her students and cheer on her favorite football team, the Jackrabbits.
Phoebe lived for her children and grandchildren, and after retiring, spent countless hours with them shopping and eating at her favorite restaurant, Polly’s Pies, where she knew all of the staff, and treated them like family. Phoebe kind heart and quick wit were loved by many. She is, and always will be, truly missed. Phoebe is survived by her children, Kevin and Maggie, and her grandchildren, Kaitlyn and Briget.
Author: gqlshare
https://www.presstelegram.com/obituaries/phoebe-c-mcbennett-long-beach-ca/