Stephen H. Bennett

Stephen Huston Bennett, aged 80, died on May 25, 2025, in York, Maine after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was at home, surrounded by loving family and his two pets, Stella and Sophy.

Steve was born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1944, to Alden and Eleanor Yearsley Bennett. His father was a faculty member at the Naval Academy after an overseas assignment in the Pacific theater. Steve attended Manhasset, Long Island schools where he excelled as a scholar and a track competitor. He was also President of his Youth Fellowship Group through the Congregational Church. Summers were spent at Buck Hill Falls, in Pennsylvania, and at Camp O-AT-KA, in Sebago, Maine.

Steve went on to Swarthmore College, following in the footsteps of his grandmother and both parents, and there earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics. He completed his MBA at the University of California at Berkeley. He married Elizabeth (Libby) Leavelle at this time, and they had their first daughter, Christina (Tina), followed by their second, Elizabeth (Lisa). The family lived in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Steve worked in the field of banking and commercial credit analysis for many years, first as a bank lending officer and later as a self-employed commercial loan broker, making commercial loans to individuals, corporations, and partnerships in the greater
Philadelphia area. His borrowers ranged from sophisticated corporate financial officers to clients who had never seen a balance sheet. He made loans secured by such diverse forms of collateral as mushroom farms, golf carts, and airplane hangars, guided always by “the four Cs of credit”: Character, Capital, Capacity, and Conditions.

During the late 1980s, after the end of his first marriage, Steve met and married his great true love, Georgia Cadwalader Bennett. They lived in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Georgia’s son Charlie Strater enjoyed guitar playing and rock and roll stories with Steve. It became a family of five.

Steve and Georgia went on to found Bennett Educational Resources, an educational consulting firm which they ran together for nineteen years before selling it to retire to York, Maine. Steve also wrote a book during this time, “The Organic Dividend Portfolio.” He subsequently managed investments for several family members, and taught his stepson Charlie the ropes.

Steve was known for his charisma, irrepressible sense of humor, and delight in the possibilities of financial analysis. He had enduring love for his country and believed sound principles and good character should direct politics. Steve is survived by his wife Georgia, his daughters Tina (Ashley) and Lisa (Mitchell), his stepson Charlie (Erica), and four grandchildren: Jordan Strater, William Goodall, Spencer Harris, and Katie Harris, and also by his siblings Anne Toscani (Tom), and Peter Bennett (Katherine).

Donations in his memory may be made to the Buck Hill Falls Conservation Foundation, P.O. Box 350, Buck Hill Falls, PA 18323 or to Camp O-AT-KA, 593 Sebago Road, Sebago, ME 07029 for camper scholarships.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Stephen H. Bennett, please visit our floral store.