by April Marciszewski
At 75, Dale Bennett still has a bucket list. He and his late wife, Marilynn, traveled 鈥渁ll over Europe, Canada, Mexico, South America, China. Never did make Australia and New Zealand 鈥� they鈥檙e still on my bucket list.鈥�
In January, Bennett embarked on another life goal: earning a master鈥檚 degree. He moved back to Oklahoma City from Dallas to attend his alma mater, 蜜桃影像AV.
鈥淭he thing that really caught my attention was the new program in fraud and forensic accounting,鈥� he said.
鈥淢y goal is to finish it in the next two years so I can graduate at the same time my oldest grandson graduates from OSU,鈥� he said. His grandson has already suggested a photo of the pair in graduation robes.
In 1968, Bennett completed his bachelor鈥檚 in accounting. Back then, tight-knit business classes met in barracks where the Freede Wellness and Activity Center is now. Bennett got married between his junior and senior years and went to work for the prestigious Arthur Andersen accounting firm after graduation. After a couple of years, he realized he was giving advice as a consultant that companies didn鈥檛 take to heart, so he went into industry as a controller to 鈥渄o the things that I thought needed to be done,鈥� he said.
When he got bored with that work, he followed the itch to travel, accepting a job as controller that sent him to Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa in the mid-1970s.
鈥淚 seemed to always pick a time to go visit a job where there was a coup about to happen or there was a flare-up,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was 25 at the time. It was a really interesting and fun experience because I wasn鈥檛 old enough to know better.鈥�
In Lagos, Nigeria, he鈥檇 sit outside the fence of the compound where he was staying, having drinks and watching soldiers go by in almost a formality of passing the leadership torch. He waited two months for the coup to play out before he could return home to his wife and children.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 so much the problem of being trapped but the problem of not communicating,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he only way to place a long-distance call was to go to the telephone company, find the operator, give her a gift, and sit and wait for the call to be connected, which generally took some number of hours.鈥�
In Iraq, he recalled seeing an armed person at every major intersection, but feeling safe in the city at late night restaurants. 鈥淲e walked all over Baghdad at 1 or 2 in the morning.鈥�
鈥淚 think it probably made me more independent and a bit more intellectually curious,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淥ne of the things I wanted to do was make sure I got all the grandkids to Europe before they started college. I think it鈥檚 really good for them to see the world鈥檚 a little bit different than Oklahoma City or Dallas.鈥�
鈥淒ale has always been very enthusiastic about whatever he鈥檚 doing,鈥� said his longtime friend Gary Weed of Oklahoma City. 鈥淗e was very successful in moving up the corporate ladder. He鈥檚 bright, intelligent and honest.鈥�
Weed and James Seikel, of Edmond, both met Bennett in junior high. They kept up over the years when Bennett visited family in Oklahoma, they and their wives traveled together extensively over the past 10 to 15 years, and now with Bennett back in town, they meet for lunch several times a week.
鈥淒ale is just a really unusual guy,鈥� Seikel said. 鈥淲hat you see is what you get. He鈥檚 even-tempered. The Dale you know today is the Dale I knew five years ago and 50 years ago. He鈥檚 one of the smarter people that I know, and I know some pretty smart people. He uses 100% of what he鈥檚 got. He鈥檚 just a remarkable guy. He鈥檚 pretty much an expert on everything, as far as I know.鈥�
Earlier this fall at lunch, the trio discussed forensic accounting and an ammonia scam from the 1950s, Seikel said. 鈥淒ale went home and researched it, and in two days, he knew more than I know about it.鈥�
In the late 鈥�70s, when cable TV was beginning to proliferate, Bennett began working in communications, helping build cable TV in Houston, along with three radio stations and a TV station. He went on to work for Telecommunications, Inc., the world鈥檚 largest cable TV company at the time, and essentially operated a freestanding business regionally, with his own budget and staff.
He was recruited by a hedge fund to take a company through bankruptcy. They turned that into Suddenlink Communications and started buying cable systems all over the country, he said. And for several years, he served as president and CEO of Classic Communications Corp., a cable TV company in Tyler, Texas, serving 350,000 people in 300 communities and nine states.
鈥淚 enjoyed challenges, so that鈥檚 why I moved from market to market or assignment to assignment every two or three years. Once you move to a particular marketplace, that market and that operation usually has problems, and it鈥檚 fun to spend a couple of years trying to solve those problems.鈥�
When his wife, Marilynn, was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Bennett decided to retire and spend time with her. They moved to Lake Texoma in southern Oklahoma, where Marilynn鈥檚 sister and brother-in-law had retired, and operated a ranch on about 1,000 acres. Bennett had lived on a ranch in northwestern Oklahoma until he was 10, and even when the family moved to Oklahoma City, his father kept several dozen acres on the edge of town. Bennett didn鈥檛 appreciate it at the time, but he remembers rolling out of bed at 5 a.m. on Saturdays as a teenager to feed cattle, fix fences or otherwise handle that week鈥檚 chores. As an adult in Texas, he appreciated the outdoors so much, he became a North Texas Master Naturalist, restoring prairies and volunteering in state parks.
Weed thinks the master鈥檚 degree at 蜜桃影像AV may be a new beginning for Bennett, after his wife died four years ago. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 need the feather in his cap,鈥� Weed said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a curious person, and he enjoys doing the work.鈥�
Bennett said he never wants to stop learning. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit difficult to not dominate discussions in class. I think I鈥檝e learned that lesson,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat, and I鈥檝e learned, unfortunately, that my short-term memory is not nearly what it was 50 years ago. Quizzes are harder. The technology is challenging. Those are the major challenges. But it鈥檚 much more fun than it is challenging.鈥�
