April 12, 1944 — September 13, 2025
Sulphur Springs
Funeral service for Dr. William Paul Bennett, age 81, of Sulphur Springs, Texas, will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at Murray-Orwosky Funeral Home in Sulphur Springs, Texas. Interment will follow at Restlawn Memorial Park with Mickey McKenzie, Jimmy Jones, Phil Morgan, Dr. Bill Dietze, Lynn Emmert, Brad Johnson, Mike Gilmer, Jerry Voss, Chuck King, and Tom Elkhorn serving as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will include Rev. Jimmy Henry, Laddie Filak, Jim Chapman, Spencer Emmert, Dr. Phil Bendell, Pat Gerald, Jim Ainsworth, Enn Ashcroft, Mike Reid, Chuck Smith, Dan Noteware, and Dave Funderburk. Visitation will be held from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 19, 2025. Dr. Bennett passed away at Christus Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas, on Saturday, September 13, 2025.
Dr. William Paul Bennett was born on April 12, 1944 in Athens, Georgia to Herbert Bennett (he was a center football player and poultry specialist at the University of Georgia) and Nola Poole Bennett (a schoolteacher from Gainesville, Georgia). Paul graduated from Athens High School, Georgia in 1962. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia in 1966. In 1970, he graduated with a Doctorate degree from the University of Kentucky. He studied under Dr. Gordon Christensen, Co-Founder and Senior Consultant of Clinicians Report Foundation (CR) and Founder and CEO of Practical Clinical Courses (PCC). Paul was very proud to have worked with The Navajo Indian Reservation to provide dental care for Native Americans.
Paul served in the U.S. Army from 1971-1973 and earned the rank of Major. He met the love of his life, Thuan, in May of 1972 at the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon. He was her dentist in Vietnam. They met again later in 1978 in California and married on August 18, 1978. Paul adopted Thuan’s two children, Vo and Chi from her first husband that passed away in Hue, 1968 Tet offensive. Paul started his private dental practice in Sulphur Springs in 1973 and served the community until his retirement in 2001. As a graduate of UGA, Paul carried the spirit of his alma mater in his heart his whole life. He loved to golf, duck hunt, play the piano and guitar, sing gospel songs, as well as sing in the church choir. He found joy in serenading his wife, Thuan, to the song “Time in a Bottle” on his guitar every chance he got.
Paul is survived by his wife, Thuan Bennett; children, Vo Bennett and wife Mia, Chi Bennett and husband Dana Files, and Jonathan Bennett and wife April; grandchildren, Lindsey and husband Chad Wooten, Zoe, Zeke, and Izzy; great-grandchild, Emma; sister, Charlotte Bachler; nephews, retired Air Force Lt. Col, David Bachler and wife Dr. Leanne; retired Army Lt Col. Donald Bachler and wife Donna; niece, Susan Brittner; great-nieces, Sharayah, Rachael, Sarah, and Mary.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Herbert and Nola Bennett and brother-in-law, Dr. Michael Bachler.
