Claire Richardson Bennett, a pioneering female landscape architect, died March 13 at her home in Carmel, Ind. She was 94.

She was the wife of the late Paul Allen Bennett and a longtime seasonal resident of Edgartown.

Born April 25, 1928, in Burlington, Vt., Claire was the daughter of Charlotte A. and Walter E. Richardson, who was in the construction business. From a young age she often accompanied her father on his sales calls and it was with him that she developed a lifelong fascination with buildings, structures and landscape design.

She grew up in Arlington and though she lived in Indiana for more than 60 years, Claire always called herself a Bostonian. She graduated from Radcliffe College with a degree in architecture after only three years and attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

While living in Massachusetts, she met Paul Bennett, a public relations executive. They married in 1950, moved to Indiana and had four children in four years. 

In 1974, she used her academic credentials, eye for design and passion for artistic expression to open her own landscape architecture business, Claire Bennett Associates Inc. She was among the first women in the country to do so. In 1990 she was elected president of the American Society of Landscape Architects, only the third woman to ever hold the post.

Awards and medals from the field filled a room in her home. She was most proud of having received the Sagamore of the Wabash, awarded for service to the state of Indiana by enhancing it with the beauty of her designs. She also served as the first female president of a Harvard Club (in her case, of Indiana), and as a trustee of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Claire and Paul first started visiting Martha’s Vineyard as newlyweds, joining the Mards, Willises, Roedels and Penneys on East Chop. Their love for these friends and the Island brought the family back to East Chop each summer. In 1994, Claire began calling Edgartown her “happy place,” where she reveled in Vineyard life with her family and friends. She loved playing tennis, gardening, and sailing — and she always had a dog to walk. 

She is survived by her children Pam Joseph, Sandi Ledbetter and her spouse David, Debbi Bush and her husband Mike and Dob Bennett and his wife Debbie; her adopted son Dusan Mijatovic and his wife Smiljana; grandchildren Melissa and her husband Cory and John and his wife Stephanie; great-grandchildren Madison, Bennett, Hailey, Piper and Haven Claire; her dearest friend Alan Day; and her extended family in the American Society of Landscape Architects.

She was predeceased by her husband Paul Bennett who died in 2003, and her granddaughter Lauren Moschenross who died in 2022.

Her family will celebrate her life this summer.

Memorial contributions can be made to Indianapolis Museum of Art (Newfields), 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN 46208, where she designed the Garden for Everyone in honor of her husband Paul.