Kearsley graduate Eric Bennett, the Flint-area's only victim of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was a football standout, natural leader

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By Mark Spezia | Flint Journal 
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on September 11, 2011 at 5:00 AM, updated September 11, 2011 at 3:43 PM

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View full sizeEric Bennett at Ferris State University

Terry and Betty Bennett, parents of the Flint-area’s only victim of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, are spending the 10th anniversary of the event today in New York City for the dedication of the Sept. 11 memorial at the site of the World Trade Center.

Their son Eric, a 1989 Kearsley graduate, died that day after hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the Trade Center’s north tower at 8:46 a.m., shattering the calm of a sunny morning in lower Manhattan.

According to reports, the 29-year-old Bennett, a vice-president for Alliance Consulting Group, was conducting a staff meeting on the 102nd floor when the plane struck the north tower between the 91st and 98th floors, leaving Bennett trapped above the impact zone. He calmly phoned the company’s main office to report what was happened.

Bennett, who lived in a Brownstone in Brooklyn, was never heard from again. Some of his remains were found five months later and were cremated. Betty wears a ring with a diamond created with her son’s remains.

“People said that when Eric walked into a room, he lit it up with his smile," Betty told Newsday in 2001. “Everybody liked him, he was so friendly and outgoing. He worked hard and played hard. He enjoyed life and lived it to its fullest.”

View full sizeEric Bennett

Bennett lettered in football, track and wrestling for the Hornets. An undersized (6-1, 185 pounds) but tenacious center, Bennett was a captain of Kearsley’s 1988 Big Nine championship team which went 8-0 in the league and finished 8-2. Terry Bennett enjoyed a close view of his son’s exploits as a member of Kearsley’s yardage chain crew.

“He was a very vital part of that team,” former Kearsley football coach Jack Pratt roughly a week after the attacks. “He was an absolutely super young man, a super person. He was one of our leaders.” He made a lot of contributions to the many people he made contact with. The most important thing is that he was a great, great young man. Anybody who came in contact with him will remember him that way.”

After that football season, Bennett joined the wrestling team for the first time. It was coached by Kearsley art teacher Mike Lilly.

“For one whole year, I was impacted by this dynamic personality because he could walk into a room and it would just light up,” Lilly said at a memorial service attended by more than 300 people in October of 2001. “Eric could get people fired up to do things and was a great leader. ... He was from the old school as far as dedication, so he would go through whatever problems he had to succeed.”

Bennett demonstrated that quality when he was not offered a college football scholarship, but walked on at Ferris State. Before he was finished with the Bulldogs, Bennett won three letters, started at center for two seasons and was named Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference honorable mention as a senior in 1992 when he helped Ferris to a 10-3 record and conference championship.

“Eric was a great person who had really moved up in the business world because of his hard-working approach,” Ferris State coach Jeff Pierce said in a statement the University issued following the attacks. “Eric was a part of our Bulldog family. When something like this happens, it really hits close to home for a lot of people. Sometimes it doesn't sink in until you realize how many people have been affected by a situation like this.”

The Eric Bennett Memorial Award is presented annually to the Bulldogs’ top offensive linemen. The Eric Bennett Memorial Scholarship is offered by Kearsley High School. The school also dedicated a memorial to Bennett a year after his death.