Friends Remember Bennett as Humble, Charismatic, Self-Deprecating, "A Big Heart"
Sen. Scott Bennett (D-Champaign) speaks on the Senate floor December 1. He died unexpectedly Friday. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
If there is a word to describe the way close friends of Sen. Scott Bennett were feeling following his unexpected passing Friday, “shock” would be the first word out of their mouths.
“You think you could just send him a text or pick up the phone and he’s gonna answer,” said Julia Rietz, the Champaign County State’s Attorney and a longtime Bennett friend. “He was just right here.”
Bennett collapsed in his home early Thursday morning. According to a Facebook post from his wife, Stacy, doctors found a previously undiagnosed brain tumor that led to a seizure and cardiac arrest. She said the loss of oxygen left his brain “damaged beyond recovery.” He died Friday.
“Scott had tremendous compassion and empathy for other people, including those whose faces he never saw but who he knew relied on him to be their advocate,” said former Sen. Rachelle Crowe, one of Bennett’s closet friends and confidantes in the Senate. She called Bennett “humble and charismatic.”
Bennett and Crowe, both former prosecutors when they joined the Senate, became quick friends after she was elected to the Senate in 2018.
She said Bennett’s hard work in the legislative process showed the kind of person he was.
“[I] was privileged to witness his deep and selfless commitment to the public he swore to serve. And they benefitted from his strong, ethical conviction and dedication,” Crowe said. “These characteristics shone through most brightly away from the spotlight in rooms where he toiled for the right result, not for the recognition.”
Rietz first met after Bennett unsuccessfully ran for Champaign County Board in 2010, and she hired him to her office two years later.
“I was kind of nervous about him, because he was a new young Democrat lawyer who wanted to get into politics,” she said. “As a politician you’re always looking around for who might challenge you in the future. And the safest way to stop someone from running against you is to hire them.”
Hiring him was a decision Rietz says was one of her best, one she knew “immediately” was the right move.
As a prosecutor in crimes against children, Rietz said Bennett would go out of his way to make those child victims feel safe and comfortable, building relationships using coloring books and board games before they ever talked about the legal case.
She said it was an incredible way for Bennett to build trust.
“Scott was seen as somebody who was always there to do the work,” Rietz said. “I think his loss will show what a tremendous person he was for the community and what he did for everyone.”
Even with his legislative work, a law practice, and helping on his family farm in Ford County during harvest season, Rietz said his priority was always at home with his wife and two children.
“Fatherhood meant everything to him,” Rietz said. “He scheduled his days around their needs, but he never used them as an excuse to get out of something. He just made it work. I don’t that he ever slept.”
Rietz says she wishes Bennett could see the outpouring of affection and support around the state and around Champaign-Urbana and Danville for him.
“I don’t think people realized how much Scott accomplished for us,” Rietz said. “Scott was in the middle, a moderate voice, who was perfect for his district. His goal was to figure out how to solve a problem instead of trying to please a certain constituency.”
Rietz said there were many things about Bennett that made him relatable more than most politicians are.
He hated vegetables and loved to read and often had an audiobook on in his car.
“And his car was always a freakin’ mess,” she said, chuckling.
But his humor will always stick out most to her.
“He was the most self-deprecating, ego-less politician you could ever meet,” Rietz said. “And he would always make you laugh.”
Crowe also spoke of his self-deprecating humor, but said it was also a sign of humility, something she says many of us could attempt to imitate.
“I think a fitting tribute would be for us all to just try to model his selflessness, so Stacy and their two children can always be reminded of the gift Scott’s friendship was to all who knew him,” Crowe said. “Now we can treasure his memory.”
A public memorial service will be announced later today for next Monday, December 19, at 10am at Krannert Center in Urbana.
Friends have set up a way to donate to the Bennett family via the “meal train” website. Click here to support them.