Farewell to a friendly face

Starting next semester, hungry Heilman Dining Center patrons will no longer be able to stop and chat with cashier Diane Bennett.

Alvin Johnson, who has worked at the dining hall for three years and was trained by Bennett, said: "I will miss her a lot. I will. I'm not going to lie."

Bennett will retire at the end of the semester after working for 50 years, 13 of which were spent at the University of Richmond, she said. She said she didn't want a retirement party.

"That might be too much for me," she said. "I just want to go out quietly and then come back quietly every now and then."

Before coming to Richmond, she spent 30 years as a cook, working at a church school in New York and a rehabilitation program in North Carolina. She then worked in retail at an upscale consignment shop in Memphis, Tenn. When she came to Richmond, she started as a cook at Tyler's Grill, and after six years she started working as a cashier at the dining hall.

"I was getting a little burned out on cooking," Bennett said. "Here I get to see the kids. I get to be their grandmother and I get to see the football team."

Bennett said she hoped that she had bonded with all students, but that the football team was her favorite.

The players taught her how to appreciate football, she said. All the girlfriends of the football players get jealous of her friendship with the players, Bennett said while laughing.

"I haven't been [to games] in the past year, because of my hip replacement, but I go to all the games," Bennett said.

Bennett had a hip replacement last year that didn't work, and will have another replacement again in January, she said.

"One leg is 1 5/8 inches shorter and every time I take a step I feel like I'm stepping in a hole," Bennett said.

Football player Garrett Wilkins-Turner, who has known Bennett since the summer of 2008, said that he could always count on Bennett to brighten his day.

"She knew when I was happy or sad, and would always say the right things," Turner said. "She was sort of like my grandmother, always telling me to 'pull those pants up boy, I can see your backside!'"

He said she means a lot to him and that he would miss her.

After her surgery, Bennett will have three months of rehabilitation. Then she will go to the gym three times a week for dance lessons and water aerobics, she said.

Working in the dining hall is a demanding job because the staff always has to be there to help feed the students, she said. Bennett works from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., five days a week, with every other weekend off, she said.

After retiring she said she was looking forward to having time for sewing, needle point and cooking for her husband. She said every once in awhile she'll come to the dining hall for lunch.

"I work on my needle point over the summer sometimes and students always ask when I will finish," Bennett said.

She also said she looked forward to visiting her daughter in New York and spending more time with her son.

"I'll be footloose and free," Bennett said.

Contact staff writer Elizabeth Ygartua at elizabeth.ygartua@richmond.edu.