Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, December 30, 2004, Pages 1 & 12

The scanner at Bob and Wanda BENNETT'S house may be on its last legs. It's the latest in a long line that have run continually at their house since the 1970s.

As of December 31, BENNETT will retire as Ringgold county sheriff, bring to a close a 17-year career in full-time law enforcement and another 10 years as a sheriff's posse member.

He's not sure whether he'll get a one when this one wears out. But at least he won't have to get up in the middle of the night if there's a lot of chatter.

"I've listened to the scanner in our home running continuously since the mid-1970s," BENNETT siad. "At night it's in the background, but if there is repeated traffic from the sheriff's office here, pretty soon I was awake."

And calls in the middle of the night have been the norm over the years.

"The first call and I can usually get back to sleep," he said. "The second call and it's questionable. The third call and I might as well get up. I'm not getting back to sleep."

At least those middle of the night calls should slow down.

BENNETT took some time recently to sit down and reminisce over the years he has worked in law enforcement in Ringgold county.

He joined the Ringgold County Sheriff's Posse back in 1977 and became Ringgold county sheriff on May 13, 1999 following the early retirement of Lyle MINNICK. He officially retires December 31, handing over the sheriff's department reins to his grandson Mike SOBOTKA, who was elected in November.

People under 25 may not remember that BENNETT had a "whole other life" before being part of law enforcement. BENNETT operated a large Grade A dairy farm north of Mount Ayr for 25 years.

"I've always said those years as a dairy farmer were good training for law enforcement," BENNETT joked. "The hours are about the same and the B.S. is just as deep."

BENNETT'S first try at law enforcement came back in 1955 at age 16 on a day a bank in Afton was robbed.

"My family had listened to the details of the incident on KSIB radio including a description of the car," BENNETT remembers. "As my brother and I were outside choring, we saw a black Pontiac which matched the description of the robbery getaway car go by."

The boys jumped in his brother's 1948 Studebaker and headed south, soon becoming convinced that they were following "the car."

Five miles south, the driver stopped at the Lyndon DRAKE residence, so the BENNETT brothers went west to Warren DRAKE'S residence and Merle DRAKE grabbed a hand gun and jumped into the car with them.

The boys followed the robber south to Highway 2 and east to the first house. He drove out again and east on Highway 2 to the Lesanville corner and then south again.

"As I recall, he stopped at the Rex SHAHA residence, then continued on south," BENNETT said. "At the T intersection south of SHAHA'S he spun out and as we topped the hill, he was out of the car with his hands up."

The bad news was that the boys found out there was no ammunition in DRAKE'S gun.

"We stayed in the car because the KSIB report also stated that the robbery was done with a sawed off shotgun," BENNETT said.

Soon the robber decided that the boys were not as big a threat as he thought, so he got back in his car and took off. He finally lost the would-be law enforcers, but was arrested just into Missouri at the LASSWELL residence after his car got stuck on a mud road. He was burning bank bags in a wood-burning stove when he was arrested.

After the arrest, the robber told the sheriff that some boys were chasing him and he had thrown out the shot gun and some money south of Highway 2 and thought that the boys had probably stopped and picked the stuff up.

"After that statement, we were questioned, but luckily at break of day Sheriff TODD did find the sawed off shotgun and some bags of money in the ditch south of Lesanville," BENNETT said.

"Loren LAMB and John FAUST tried to get part of the reward money for us, but as luck would have it they were not successful," BENNETT remembers.

While the sheriff's department has to deal with death and family tragedies over the years, the only murder in the are came in the mid-1980s when the was a member of the sheriff's posse and Alberta MICHAEL was killed by her nephews in Mount Ayr.

"Mrs. MICHAEL was my country school teacher for many years at Liberty School #3, so that was hard to take," BENNETT said.

"It has always been difficult to accept the number of deaths and serious family tragedies that law enforcement in Ringgold county has been part of," he said. "I hope that somehow our presence and involvement has helped ease some of the grief and pain."

There were always information that couldn't be shared with others during an investigation as well.

His father, Charles BENNETT came up to the sheriff's office once in the late 1980s and was asking questions about a case Lyle MINNICK and he were working on.

"I can't tell you everything," he told his father.

"You never did," his father retorted back.

BENNETT jotted down some of the major investigations that he remembers from over the years.

In his first year as a full-time deputy he remembers an investigation wher a stolen tracktor, machinery, and tools were recovered and charges files in Milan, MO.

Later in 1987, two trailer houses were burglarized south of Shannon City. After the second burglary, items were found hidden in weeds and BENNETT suspected that the thieves would return to pick up the items.

Officer and reserved watched the items around the clock and at midnight the second night, three persons arrived to pick up items and to burlarize the trailers again.

Sheriff MINNICK, Deputy BENNETT and a couple of reserve officers watched from the shadows, eventually arresting and jailing all three.

There was a vehicle chase in 1989 when a 19-year-old in a pickup ran from Adams county officers into Taylor county and then into Ringgold county [Page 12] northeast of Diagonal.

As other officers followed the pickup south past what was then Larry and Joyce ENGLAND'S home, BENNET was waiting at the corner.

"He slid the corner then headed east," BENNETT remembers "Before he got to the bridge just east of the corner, I passed him as he tried to crowd me into the ditch. When I got to the bridge I stopped and locked the breaks (sic). He tried to push my car off the bridge and I and Adams county officers ran back and drug him out of the pickup, still trying to push the car."

"He got very familiar with the Ringgold county jail," BENNETT said.

In another 1987 incident, a jail inmate being interviewed by his attorney James PEDERSEN took advantage of time when his attorney went to tell the judge they were ready to appear. He made a run out of the courthouse.

"Sheriff MINNICk and I and deputy Kevin CAMPBELL looked for him all afternoon and into the night as he hid in Leroy BLESSMAN'S garage," he said. "The next day we received a call that a person thought to be the inmate had caught a ride north on the High and Dry. We all headed for Diagonal and then on north."

The inmate was caught up with ride just north of the Ringgold county line.

"As I passed the car, I recognized the passenger and radioed Lyle and Kevin that I could ID the inmate," BENNETT said. "Kevin never did forgive me for putting a little dent in the hood of his patrol car while cuffing the inmate.

Some time around 1990 there was a rash of machinery theft, mostly high dollar equipment being stolen.

"After getting a tip where one piece was located that could be seen from the road, I was able to positively ID that one piece," BENNETT said.

"For two nights after that Arlen HUGHES and I, in my pickup or his, toured many vacant farmsteads all night long.

"We found everything but a 4x4 tractor and finally took a plane ride in an attempt to locate it," BENNETT said.

They finally had enough information for three or four search warrants in two counties. The search resulted in recovery of all four pieces that had been taken in the county, along with farm and industrial equipment from seven counties.

Equipment valued at over a half million dollars was recovered in this investigation.

"In the early 1990s we had several cases of cattle theft," BENNETT said. "This proved a little discouraging as our success was not as good as we would have liked."

The investigation was lucky enough to bring home a trailer load of DERSCHEID cattle from Madison county, he noted.

In 1991 there was an attempt to burn down the Mount Ayr Community high school auditorium.

"That was a rough period of time to get through even though the attempt was unsuccessful," BENNETT said.

Through the 1990s also saw the methamphetamine problem escalate.

"Meth is probably one of the greatest threats to the future of our young people," BENNETT said. "Locating and cleaning up meth cook sights (sic) is very time consuming and costly, I guess it can be looked at a 'job security' for law enforcement."

In July 1999, a triple axle machinery trailer that BENNETT had built for Clair and Ron WILLEY to haul their backhoe on was stolen from northeast of Blockton.

"I took this theft very personally and vowed that I would find it because my name was welded on the steel dock." BENNETT said. "I still find myself looking at every triple axle trailer I meet. This trailer was one of over 150 trailers I built during the 1960s and 1970s."

In 2002, a major theft case was again broken by search warrants served north of Ellston and in Creston where several trailer loads of ATs, tools and automotive equipment were recovered.

A number of important changes have taken place in law enforcement while BENNETT was sheriff.

The establishment of county-wide law enforcement with the city of Mount Ayr contracting with the sheriff's department for their law enforcement needs was one.

"In my opinion, it has and is working very well and has been a plus for everyone involved," BENNETT said.

Actual implementation of the 911 dispatch system has also been a big change, he noted.

"I've unlocked a few hundred cars and given away a thousand or so junior deptuy badges to my little friends over the years," BENNETT said. "I have told everyone of my deputies that if you can't put a smile on a child's face every day, you just as well have stayed in bed.

"A lot of the success of our job can be attributed to a great bunch of deputies and reserve deputies," he said. "Our reserves may be some of the best trained in the state."

Right now BENNETT is looking foward to swearing in his grandson as sheriff the day he officially retires, and then taking some time to travel.

"It's been quite a ride," he said.

Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, December 08, 2005

The Great American Smokeout was held again in Ringgold county, with some good participation, according to a report from the Ringgold County Public Helath office found elsewhere in today's Mount Ayr Record-News.

A packet of information was passed out to people who were going to try to help other people they know try to stop smoking or chewing.

It was one of the testimonials that was shared in that packet that caught my eye. I thought I would share the poignant story with my column readers.

It was from Wanda BENNETT, who wrote about the experience of her husband, Bob, who stopped smoking more than 10 years before he died. Bob BENNETT was the sheriff of Ringgold county for many years before his retirement.

Here's the story. I hope you find it meaningful too.

Bob BENNETT started smoking when he was in high school. It seemed so cool and macho at the time. In the 1950s no one mentioned how deadly cigarettes were. In fact, they were advertised by such people as doctors and even Ronald Reagan as being a pleasurable way to unwind and relax. Of course, Bob's parents didn't feel smoking was cool or sophisicated or macho, or anything else good. In a way, the necessity to sneak around and "outsmart" the folks probably added to the pleasure.

Bob "used" cigarettes. When things went wrong, he smoked to calm down. When things went well, he smoked to celebrate. A flat tire, a pay raise, no time to eat, a meal without friends, a day on the tractor or a day behind the desk -- "lighting up" was part of it.

He did quit, though -- three times -- for six months to a year when each of his three children were born. He really never considered stopping any other time. He was "made" to smoke -- a tobacco company's dream. He enjoyed the process of lighting up, the feel and taste of the smoke in his mouth and throat and the smell of the smoke when he exhaled.

Then in the spring of 1994 a favorite cousin, Wanda LESAN, died. Smoking had nothing to do with her death, but somehow it made Bob aware of his own mortality. The next day on his way to work, he took one last cigarette out of the pack, lit it, inhaled deeply and tossed the rest of the pack over the railing of the "lake road bridge" north of Mount Ayr. He always joked about that later, saying every time he crossed that bridge, he knew he could stop and retrieve that half pack -- he knew just where it had landed.

He was always amazed at how easily the habit broke. It was kind of like a fond memory of something he'd once loved but had outgrown -- like a kid who loves bubble gum but gives it up with no thoughts of regret as they grown up. It surprised us both how much better he felt within only a matter of weeks. Food was more appetizing, flowers and perfume regained their fragrance, his clothes and mine smelled differently. We hadn't realized how smoky the vehicles and the house smelled. Perhaps the biggest surprise was how offensive the smoke of others began to smell to us.

He was never sorry he quit. In fact, it became a point of pride as he passed each yearly anniversary. As the price of cigarettes went higher and higher, he would periodically figure up how much money he had saved. It became an inside joke every time he got to tell a waitress we would prefer a "no smoking" table. No more shirts with little burn holes down the front. No more having to put out his cigarette before holding a baby or getting down on the floor to play with the grandids. No more feeling that "twinge" when he heard a fire was started by a smouldering cigarette.

March 2, 1994 at 7:30 a.m. -- the day and the time. He tore the page off his calendar, marked the day and time, then tucked it away in our memorablia drawer -- kind of like some medal or commendation he had won and was proud of.

Bob BENNETT obituary

Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2012