James Bennett Applegate

James Bennett Applegate, 86, died in his home in Naples, Florida on Wednesday, January 17, 2018. He was born March 23, 1931, in Saint Louis, Missouri, the elder son of the late Bennett James Applegate and the late Lucille Goessling Applegate. He was educated in the public schools of University City, Missouri and earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Washington University in Saint Louis. He served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955.

He married the former Joanne Stevens on August 24, 1957, in Shipman, Illinois and the two made their home in University City until moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1972. He retired in April 1991, from North American Van Lines in Fort Wayne, and they became full-time residents of Naples, Florida in 1996. Joanne Stevens Applegate, his wife of 60 years, preceded him in death on November 21, 2017.

He was past President and board member of the Naples Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and also served as an officer and board member of the Genealogical Society of Collier County. He was a family genealogist and volunteer at the Collier County Public Library’s Genealogical Department. He wrote and published a family history of his Applegate line which he called An Applegate Saga in 2015.

He joined Mayflower Congregational Church in 1998 where he sang in the choir. He and his wife then moved their membership to First Presbyterian Church in Naples in 2009. There he was ordained and served as a deacon, Moderator of the Board of Deacons and occasionally as liturgist.

He is survived by two daughters, Karen Heim of White House, Tennessee, and Joan Applegate of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and a son, James Bennett Applegate, Jr., of Broomfield, Colorado, eleven grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. He once remarked that his children were not biblical scholars; apparently never getting beyond Genesis 1:28 where God instructs Adam and Eve to ‘be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth...’ He is also survived by a brother, John Louis Applegate of Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Friends will be received on Sunday, January 21 from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm at Fuller Funeral Home, 4735 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, FL 34112. The funeral service will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Naples, 250 Sixth Street South, Naples, FL 34102, on Monday, January 22 at 1:00 pm.

Burial services will be held in the family plot at Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri. Prior to his burial, a visitation will be held at Lupton Chapel, 7233 Delmar Blvd., University City, Missouri on Wednesday, January 24 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Genealogical Society of Collier County, PO Box 7933, Naples, FL 34101-7933, the Boys and Girls Club of Collier County, 7500 Davis Blvd, Naples, FL 34104, or First Presbyterian Church of Naples, 650 Sixth Street South, Naples, FL 34102 would be appreciated.

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