Rosa Shearer Bennett

Rosa Shearer Bennett, 92, of Macon, Georgia and Miami Beach, Florida, passed away Sunday, January 23, 2022. Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 29, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at Hart’s Chapel on Cherry Street with the Reverend Creede Hinshaw officiating. The family requires that masks be worn at the service. Burial will follow at Macon Memorial Park.

Daughter of the late Jackson Mattison Shearer and Aline Johnson Shearer Ellington, Rosa was a graduate of A.L. Miller High School and Crandall Business College. She was a dedicated career woman who retired from AT&T with 42 years of service and was amongst the first women recruited in the early 1960’s from the operator pool into the company’s Sales Management program. She was a devoted member of Mulberry Street United Methodist Church, United Methodist Women’s Circle Leader, and as an avid gardener, Rosa was a member the American Camellia Society. Rosa was recognized by The Georgia Trust, Historic Macon, The Hay House, and the Smithsonian Institute for her dedication and outstanding contribution to historic preservation for the five-year restoration and 35-year maintenance of her former Macon home at 2545 Vineville Avenue. Considered to be one of the finest examples of Arts and Craftsman architecture in the United States, Rosa and Walter Bennett singlehandedly saved and lovingly restored this significant structure and proudly hosted numerous neighborhood home & garden tours and community & statewide events promoting historic preservation.

Rosa was a charming and beautiful Southern Lady who led her life with love, laughter, faith, family, hard work, strength, and determination.

Rosa was preceded in death by her husband, Walter M. Bennett; son, Lane Madison Bennett; sisters, Gladys Shearer Toole and Florine Shearer Spillers; and niece, Melody Shearer.

Rosa is survived by her daughter, Lark Bennett of Miami Beach, Florida; nieces, Debbie Salyer of St. Simons Island, Georgia, and Sheree Apple-bury of Roberta, Georgia; nephew, Stanley Spillers (Sybil) of Roberta; great nieces and nephews, Melody Bennett, Sarah Applebury, Wesley Applebury, and Will Applebury.

Please visit www.hartsmort.com to express condolences.

Hart’s on Cherry Street, Hart's Mortuary and Cremation Center, 765 Cherry Street, Macon, GA 31201 has charge of the arrangements.