Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 27, 2008, at 11 a.m. in McDonald Funeral Home Chapel for A. Kent Bennett, Jr., 80, of Picayune, who passed away on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 in Kindred Critical Care Hospital in New Orleans, La.

Burial will be in New Palestine Cemetery under the direction of McDonald Funeral Home.

Dr. Danny Nance will officiate at the service.

A native of Picayune, he was a Teacher/Counselor/Principal/Printer and a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Nicholson. Mr. Bennett was a graduate of PRCC and USM. He received his Master’s Degree in Elementary Education/Counseling from USM. He was a Counselor at Picayune Junior and Picayune High Schools. He was a Principal at Eastside Elementary School and he was Self-Employed at Kent Bennett Printer in Nicholson.

He was preceded in death by: his parents, Amos Kent Bennett, Sr. and Audrey Dell Crosby Bennett; and his wife, Bessie Mae Bennett.

Survivors include: his children, Amy Lynn Simmons and her husband, Sidney Simmons of Picayune; Amos Kent Bennett III of Picayune; and Ann Mills and her husband, Arnie Mills of Picayune.; his grandchildren, Jennifer Ann Simmons of Pensacola, Fla., Margaret Shaner of Huntsville, Ala., and Chrissy Curtis of Huntsville; and his cousins, Dorothy Pugh of Georgia, and Clyde Sumrall of Tennessee.

Visitation will be Friday, December 26, 2008 from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. at McDonald Funeral Home.

Obituary, register book, and driving directions can be found on the internet page, www.mcdonaldfh.com.