Robert Adam "Bob" Bennett

Robert Adam (Bob) Bennett, 73, of Biloxi, MS passed away on Friday, June 6, 2014, in Constanta, Romania.
Mr. Bennett was preceded in death by his parents, Harry and Ora Cormier Bennett and his brother, Bernard Bennett.
He is survived by his wife of fifty years and two days, Missy (Mary Alice) Davis Bennett and two sons Robert Adam Bennett II of Biloxi, Mississippi and Rhett Davis Bennett, Orlando, Florida. He is also survived by his brother-in-law Edson L. Davis, and sister-in-law Maria Davis Baisier both of New Orleans; nieces and nephews Betty Lynn Bennett Lazarus (Harry), Phillip M. Bennett(Suzanne), Melissa Bennett Ingber (Shai), Courtney Davis Liberto (Jay), Yvette Davis Frederick (Brent), Edson L. Davis, Jr. (Jenny), Christopher Gregory Davis (Courtney), Bernard P. Baisier (Joanna), Aimee Baisier Gerrets (Kristian), and by numerous great nieces and nephews and beloved cousins.
Mr. Bennett was born in Rayne, Louisiana and moved to Long Beach, Mississippi when he was six. He attended St. Thomas School in Long Beach, Gulf Coast Military Academy, and Biloxi High School. He graduated from Tulane University, and Tulane Law School, and he devoted his life to building the Gulf Coast. He began his career as an attorney; then he became owner of Ben-Bro Furniture and Appliances and A&A Air Conditioning in Long Beach where he founded the Long Beach Merchants' Association. In 1987 he built the Edgewater Inn and served as president and CEO. Mr. Bennett represented Mississippi on the board of directors of the American Hotel and Lodging Association for eighteen years and was currently the president of the Mississippi Hotel and Lodging Association. He was a past president of the Mississippi Hotel and Motel Association. The American Hotel and Motel Association honored him with the Economy Lodging Operator of the Year Award for outstanding individual ownership and operation. He served two terms as president of Gulf Coast Hotel and Motel Association of Mississippi and was instrumental in bringing the gaming industry to the state. He was very active in the hospitality industry and represented Mississippi at the first White House Conference on Travel and Tourism in 1995. He was a member of Southern Innkeepers Association, the oldest hospitality association in America, where he served as president and chairman of the board. He was a member of the Edgewater Rotary Club, a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus Reinhart Schroder Chapter 9409, an active and devoted parishioner of Our Lady of Fatima Church, and a member of The Revelers Carnival organization. He was King of the Order of Billikins Carnival Krewe in 2011. He was a charter member of Sunkist Country Club where he played golf regularly with his son Bob II, and a life-long member of Elks Lodge 606. Mr. Bennett was a world traveler having visited six of the world's seven continents with his beloved wife Missy at his side. He died in Constanta, Romania while traveling with his wife and celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Bob Bennett was a man who loved his life and his family, and he left the world a better place for his having been here. His family is grateful for the prayers and kindnesses shown by so many as they awaited the safe return of their loved ones from Romania.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, at 1:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, 2090 Pass Road, Biloxi, MS 39531, with visitation beginning at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow at Southern Memorial Park in Biloxi.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made in his memory to the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Our Lady of Fatima Church at the address above.
Riemann Family Funeral Home, 274 Beauvoir Road in Biloxi, served the family.
For more information, please call (228)388-9516.