Judy Bennett Foley

New Albany-Judy Foley passed away at Sanctuary Hospice House in Tupelo, MS, in the early hours of Friday, December 17, 2021.
Judy Brenda Bennett Foley was born in New Albany, MS, on September 14, 1937 to Hayes W. and Hermie (Sam) Little Bennett. Judy grew up on a farm outside of New Albany in the Pleasant Hill community. She was surrounded by a loving close-knit family with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and numerous people who lived and worked on the farm. Judy had many great stories growing up with her cousins, especially her double-first cousin, Dan Bennett, La Doska Bennett, Hugh Bennett, Bob Bennett and Deda Bennett Wallis.
Judy and her cousin, Dan, seemed to have their fair share of escapades such as the time they set a bale of cotton on fire while smoking rabbit tobacco. Judy was on her way to becoming a smoker until she rolled a cigarette with crushed dry leaves and wax paper. She smoked her last “cigarette” at the age of 5.
Judy began her education at Locust Grove School, where she completed the elementary grades. She then went to Tippah-Union School where she graduated from high school in 1955. While a student at Tippah-Union, she played on the girls’ basketball team as a guard. It was during one of her basketball games that she became aware of a young man, Hubert Lynn Foley, Jr., who later married her. He was the school photographer for New Albany, and in the course of taking pictures for the game, he noticed Judy and began to snap a few pictures of her. Unfortunately, the flash bulbs were quiet blinding and she became quite aggravated at the attention. Hubert Lynn later asked her on a date, she accepted but she stood him up. After finally going on a date, Judy and Hubert Lynn dated for 7 years. During that time Hubert Lynn asked her to marry him seven times. He was quite persistent. She was equally persistent in saying no, as she wanted to graduate from college before getting married.
Judy attended Northeast Mississippi Junior College, then transferred to Blue Mountain College, where she graduated in 1959 with a B.S. in Business Education and English. After graduation, Hubert Lynn asked Judy for the sixth time to marry him…she again said no. This time she said she wanted to work for a year before getting married. Judy obtained her first job with the Union County School System at Myrtle High School, where she taught for one year. During the school year, she said yes to Hubert Lynn and they were married on June 18, 1960. They had their wedding bands engraved when they married. Judy’s ring was engraved with Always, Hubert Lynn and Hubert Lynn’s ring was engraved with Forever Yours, Judy. That was how they each closed their letters they wrote to one another in college.
Judy and Hubert Lynn began their life together in Senatobia, MS, where he was a civil engineer with the Mississippi Highway Department. He was working on a then new concept of a continuous pour concrete highway, which became I-55. Judy taught school at Crenshaw High during the last year of school before it was consolidated into the Panola and Quitman County School. She then went to work as the office manager for Gafford’s Oil Company in Senatobia. During this time, Hubert Lynn had the opportunity to buy a small engineering and surveying firm and he and Judy decided to move home to New Albany when they found out they were expecting their daughter, Bengie.
After Bengie was born, Judy elected to stay at home, but when Bengie was 61/2months old, Kossuth High School called and begged her to finish the year teaching Junior English. Judy then taught at Ecru High School in Pontotoc County then at Ingomar High School in Union County. While teaching business education courses and English at these high schools, she was also the FBLA, yearbook, beauty review, and senior class sponsor as well as chaperone on senior trips to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans and to Washington D.C. and New York City for the 1964 World’s Fair. Judy fondly spoke often of her students and her time teaching school. After 12 and ½ years in education, Judy took a one-year leave but eventually left teaching to work with Hubert Lynn in his engineering firm as bookkeeper and payroll clerk. Her duties also included “cooking dirt” in the dirt lab, where water content in the soil was measured and charted. In 1992, Judy has a career change when she had the opportunity to join Bengie in the insurance business, where she spent 22 years with Aflac before her retirement.
Over her lifetime, Judy was active with animals, always having dogs around her, as well as growing up with farm animals. Her favorite dog breed was the Pekingese and since 1976 the family had Mr. Wu, Pekah, Sushee, Bach and currently Tut along with a wild and wooly Scotchon, named Fergus. Fergus figured out early on which chain you can yank in order to irritate Judy. She also raised a pair of fox squirrels her father found while cutting timber when she was a little girl. She and Hubert Lynn bought their first Red Angus cows in 1968 and they built a herd until selling out in 1980. Judy was hands on with raising the Red Angus cattle. During the time they had the herd, Judy became one of the few women to become active in the Union County Cattleman’s Association as well as being Secretary and President of the Southern Ted Angus Association as well as being active members in the Red Angus Association of America, where they made many friends from around the United States.
Judy had many other diverse interest and activities. She enjoyed working in her yard and together, she and Hubert transformed their yard into a showpiece. Hubert paid a contractor to haul ten tandem truckloads of native rock that had been blasted from one of his engineering projects and the neighbors all wondered about the giant mounds of dirt and boulders in the Foley yard. Using these boulders, they built a retaining wall around the back and side yards then landscaped the area themselves. Judy also enjoyed entertaining and she was the proper Southern Lady who loved to use her china, silver, and crystal as well as proper etiquette.
Judy was active in the community for many years. She was a member of the New Albany Garden Club, the Pilot Club of New Albany, and her love the New Albany Presbyterian Church. Over the years she served the church as a Sunday School and Bible School teacher, a longtime member of Circle 3 and a member of the Women of the Church, where she served as treasurer for many years. She was also active as a band parent and became Mom to many of Bengie’s friends over the years. Judy and Hubert Lynn were also members of a supper club which met monthly for around 40 years. The six couples were great friends.
Judy is survived by her daughter, Judith Bennett (Bengie) Foley of New Albany, her special double-first cousins, LaDoska Bennett of New Albany and Deda Bennett Wallis of Murfreesboro, TN, as well as many other loving cousins, nieces, nephews and friends, in addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Hubert Lynn Foley, Jr., and her special double-first cousins, Dan Bennett, Bob Bennett and Hugh Bennett.
Visitation will be Sunday, December 19, 2021, from 5pm till 7pm at United Funeral Service. A second visitation will be on Monday, December 20, 2021 from 9am till 11am at New Albany Presbyterian Church.
Services will be on Monday, December 20, 2021 at 11:00am at the New Albany Presbyterian Church with Bro. Steven Ewing and Bro. Bill Everette officiating. Burial will be at Vista Memorial Park.
Pallbearers will be Britt Jackson, Chris Bennett, John Taylor, Matthew Pannell, Mark Pannell, and Miles Wallis.
In lieu of flowers (Bengie is a serial plant killer), please make memorials to any of the following:
New Albany Presbyterian Church
Building Fund
605 Highway 15 South
New Albany, MS 38652

Blue Mountain College
The Palmer-Donnell House of the School of Nursing
P.O. box 160
Blue Mountain, MS 38610
Or online to www.bmc.edu under Giving

Sanctuary Hospice House
5159 West Main Street
Tupelo, MS 38803
Or online to www.sanctuaryhospicehouse.com under Take Action and Donate
United Funeral Service is honored to be entrusted with these arrangements. For online condolences, please visit www.unitedfuneralservice.com