Bennett Pruet

Bennett E. Pruet (born in Harpersville) was a metallurgist for the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company and an at-large candidate for the newly-created Birmingham City Council in the 1963 Birmingham municipal election.

Pruet's family moved to Birmingham when he was six months old. He attended Birmingham City Schools and studied pre-engineering at Howard College before completing his degree at the University of Alabama. He also earned a law degree at the Birmingham School of Law.

Pruet served three years on active duty in the U.S. Navy's Submarine Service during World War II and remained with the U.S. Naval Air Reserve afterward. He also served as director of the Huffman Junior Baseball Association and was a member of the Alabama Bar Association and Huffman Baptist Church.

As a candidate for City Council, Pruet advocated raising educational standards, improving the Birmingham Airport, building expressways and removing parking meters to relieve congestion on city streets, giving pay raises to city employees, consolidating planning functions, and encouraging neighboring suburbs to merge with Birmingham.

Pruet and his wife, the former Evelyn Norwood resided at 10 Sunset Lane in Huffman and had two sons.

References

• "Metallurgist qualifies for city council" (February 3, 1963) The Birmingham News - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections