Born January 28, 1923, in Gainesville, Florida, John Joseph Benton was the youngest son of Mabelle Williams Benton and John Robert Benton, the founding dean of the University of Florida's College of Engineering. He died at home in Panama City on April 4, 2017.
His maternal grandfather was a country doctor who studied at the University of Edinburgh before returning to the family homestead in Wacahoota, Marion County, Florida. His paternal grandfather, who was born to American missionaries on Crete when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, himself became an Episcopal priest.
Dr. Benton outlived all his siblings: Robert Tyrie Benton, an engineer who helped support the family after Dean Benton's death in 1930, including by working in the oil fields in Venezuela; Charles Richard Benton, a pediatrician in Pensacola; and Hugh Herbert Benton, the first certified public accountant to open an office in Boca Raton.
Absent for much of the spring of his senior year of high school—having been excused to go sailing with his eldest brother in the Bahamas for several weeks (on the Duchess after Tyrie had sailed it in a race from Tampa to Havana)—John nevertheless graduated from P.K. Yonge in 1938.
That fall he began college, at 15 the youngest student then enrolled at the University of Florida. A Theta Chi, he helped finance his education by working in the summer in the actuarial department of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in New York. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa in mathematics in 1942, he joined the United States Navy and began medical school at Johns Hopkins, where he earned his M.D. at age 22.
Assigned alphabetically upon his arrival at Johns Hopkins, his anatomy lab partner was Fredericka Bart Berger, a Vassar alumna from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The partnership flourished in and out of class. They were married December 23, 1944, almost three months to the day before the brother with whom he had gone sailing in the Bahamas was killed in action over Germany.
John and Fredericka had ten children: The Hon. Robert Tyrie Benton, II (Wings) of Tallahassee; Rebecca Gardiner Benton; Fredericka Lee B. Jura of Treasure Island; John Joseph Benton, Jr. (Marsha); Margaret Nelson B. Hough (John) of Colorado Springs, CO; Ann Williams B. Ruple (Steve); Dr. Thomas Bart Berger Benton (Kathy) of Gainesville; Dr. Christopher Benham Benton (Xiaoyan) of Miami; Dr. Diana Marie Benton of Gainesville; and Dr. Jane Mabelle B. Robinson (Larry) of Merritt Island. All but John, Jr. survive, as do 23 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great grandchildren, seven nieces and three nephews, among others.
After leaving the Navy (having attained the rank of LTJG), Dr. Benton completed a residency in pediatrics at Indiana University in Indianapolis, before settling in Panama City and going into private practice in 1950. He soon became involved with the Panama City Civic Music Association, serving as its president and on its board at various times. He was an accomplished pianist.
He regularly performed physical examinations for the Boy Scouts at Camp Euchee as a volunteer, helped found the Bay County Child Guidance Clinic, and was on the founding board of the Boys and Girls Club of Bay County. In 2010 the Panama City Kiwanis Club established the "Dr. John J. Benton Award" to honor a Kiwanian that has lived a life of service to children, and honored him as the first recipient.
He served on the Human Rights Advocacy Committee for Sunland in Marianna, and was on the Board of Directors of the Bay County Council on Aging. Last year when he wrote a letter resigning from the Kiwanis Club because of ill health, the club refused his resignation although they informed him they would not accept any more dues from him. Dr. Benton was a parishioner of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, and served on the vestry there.
He made several trips to Latin America as a medical missionary. In the late sixties, he served with the Peace Corps in Colombia, moving with his wife and five youngest children to Medellin for two years.
Afterwards, he returned to Panama City and private practice. Over the decades he gave balloons to thousands of young patients. He was, of course, fond of children. But he was not unaware of their proclivity for grasping anything in reach and for that reason always wore bow ties, a habit he maintained after he closed his practice to pursue a career in public health.
He was in charge of the health departments in Washington, Gulf and Franklin Counties before his long service as head of the Bay County Health Department. Only months before retirement benefits would have vested, he resigned to take care of his wife during her last illness. At a retirement ceremony, it was said, "He was in public health even when he was still in private practice."
On December 23, 1994, Dr. Benton went to Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, where he had been married fifty years earlier, to say prayers: His wife had died some nine months before they would have celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. A person of genuine humility, he always seemed slightly embarrassed to hear how highly those who knew him best thought of him. In life's storms, he was a beacon of equanimity.
Services will be held on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The family will receive friends at the church before the funeral, beginning at 10:00 a.m., and at Wilson Funeral Home on Tuesday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The interment at Greenwood Cemetery will be private.
Those desiring to make memorial donations might contribute to their favorite children's charities.
Wilson Funeral Home, Apr 6, 2017
His maternal grandfather was a country doctor who studied at the University of Edinburgh before returning to the family homestead in Wacahoota, Marion County, Florida. His paternal grandfather, who was born to American missionaries on Crete when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, himself became an Episcopal priest.
Dr. Benton outlived all his siblings: Robert Tyrie Benton, an engineer who helped support the family after Dean Benton's death in 1930, including by working in the oil fields in Venezuela; Charles Richard Benton, a pediatrician in Pensacola; and Hugh Herbert Benton, the first certified public accountant to open an office in Boca Raton.
Absent for much of the spring of his senior year of high school—having been excused to go sailing with his eldest brother in the Bahamas for several weeks (on the Duchess after Tyrie had sailed it in a race from Tampa to Havana)—John nevertheless graduated from P.K. Yonge in 1938.
That fall he began college, at 15 the youngest student then enrolled at the University of Florida. A Theta Chi, he helped finance his education by working in the summer in the actuarial department of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in New York. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa in mathematics in 1942, he joined the United States Navy and began medical school at Johns Hopkins, where he earned his M.D. at age 22.
Assigned alphabetically upon his arrival at Johns Hopkins, his anatomy lab partner was Fredericka Bart Berger, a Vassar alumna from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The partnership flourished in and out of class. They were married December 23, 1944, almost three months to the day before the brother with whom he had gone sailing in the Bahamas was killed in action over Germany.
John and Fredericka had ten children: The Hon. Robert Tyrie Benton, II (Wings) of Tallahassee; Rebecca Gardiner Benton; Fredericka Lee B. Jura of Treasure Island; John Joseph Benton, Jr. (Marsha); Margaret Nelson B. Hough (John) of Colorado Springs, CO; Ann Williams B. Ruple (Steve); Dr. Thomas Bart Berger Benton (Kathy) of Gainesville; Dr. Christopher Benham Benton (Xiaoyan) of Miami; Dr. Diana Marie Benton of Gainesville; and Dr. Jane Mabelle B. Robinson (Larry) of Merritt Island. All but John, Jr. survive, as do 23 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great grandchildren, seven nieces and three nephews, among others.
After leaving the Navy (having attained the rank of LTJG), Dr. Benton completed a residency in pediatrics at Indiana University in Indianapolis, before settling in Panama City and going into private practice in 1950. He soon became involved with the Panama City Civic Music Association, serving as its president and on its board at various times. He was an accomplished pianist.
He regularly performed physical examinations for the Boy Scouts at Camp Euchee as a volunteer, helped found the Bay County Child Guidance Clinic, and was on the founding board of the Boys and Girls Club of Bay County. In 2010 the Panama City Kiwanis Club established the "Dr. John J. Benton Award" to honor a Kiwanian that has lived a life of service to children, and honored him as the first recipient.
He served on the Human Rights Advocacy Committee for Sunland in Marianna, and was on the Board of Directors of the Bay County Council on Aging. Last year when he wrote a letter resigning from the Kiwanis Club because of ill health, the club refused his resignation although they informed him they would not accept any more dues from him. Dr. Benton was a parishioner of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, and served on the vestry there.
He made several trips to Latin America as a medical missionary. In the late sixties, he served with the Peace Corps in Colombia, moving with his wife and five youngest children to Medellin for two years.
Afterwards, he returned to Panama City and private practice. Over the decades he gave balloons to thousands of young patients. He was, of course, fond of children. But he was not unaware of their proclivity for grasping anything in reach and for that reason always wore bow ties, a habit he maintained after he closed his practice to pursue a career in public health.
He was in charge of the health departments in Washington, Gulf and Franklin Counties before his long service as head of the Bay County Health Department. Only months before retirement benefits would have vested, he resigned to take care of his wife during her last illness. At a retirement ceremony, it was said, "He was in public health even when he was still in private practice."
On December 23, 1994, Dr. Benton went to Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, where he had been married fifty years earlier, to say prayers: His wife had died some nine months before they would have celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. A person of genuine humility, he always seemed slightly embarrassed to hear how highly those who knew him best thought of him. In life's storms, he was a beacon of equanimity.
Services will be held on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The family will receive friends at the church before the funeral, beginning at 10:00 a.m., and at Wilson Funeral Home on Tuesday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The interment at Greenwood Cemetery will be private.
Those desiring to make memorial donations might contribute to their favorite children's charities.
Wilson Funeral Home, Apr 6, 2017
Born January 28, 1923, in Gainesville, Florida, John Joseph Benton was the youngest son of Mabelle Williams Benton and John Robert Benton, the founding dean of the University of Florida's College of Engineering. He died at home in Panama City on April 4, 2017.
His maternal grandfather was a country doctor who studied at the University of Edinburgh before returning to the family homestead in Wacahoota, Marion County, Florida. His paternal grandfather, who was born to American missionaries on Crete when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, himself became an Episcopal priest.
Dr. Benton outlived all his siblings: Robert Tyrie Benton, an engineer who helped support the family after Dean Benton's death in 1930, including by working in the oil fields in Venezuela; Charles Richard Benton, a pediatrician in Pensacola; and Hugh Herbert Benton, the first certified public accountant to open an office in Boca Raton.
Absent for much of the spring of his senior year of high school—having been excused to go sailing with his eldest brother in the Bahamas for several weeks (on the Duchess after Tyrie had sailed it in a race from Tampa to Havana)—John nevertheless graduated from P.K. Yonge in 1938.
That fall he began college, at 15 the youngest student then enrolled at the University of Florida. A Theta Chi, he helped finance his education by working in the summer in the actuarial department of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in New York. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa in mathematics in 1942, he joined the United States Navy and began medical school at Johns Hopkins, where he earned his M.D. at age 22.
Assigned alphabetically upon his arrival at Johns Hopkins, his anatomy lab partner was Fredericka Bart Berger, a Vassar alumna from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The partnership flourished in and out of class. They were married December 23, 1944, almost three months to the day before the brother with whom he had gone sailing in the Bahamas was killed in action over Germany.
John and Fredericka had ten children: The Hon. Robert Tyrie Benton, II (Wings) of Tallahassee; Rebecca Gardiner Benton; Fredericka Lee B. Jura of Treasure Island; John Joseph Benton, Jr. (Marsha); Margaret Nelson B. Hough (John) of Colorado Springs, CO; Ann Williams B. Ruple (Steve); Dr. Thomas Bart Berger Benton (Kathy) of Gainesville; Dr. Christopher Benham Benton (Xiaoyan) of Miami; Dr. Diana Marie Benton of Gainesville; and Dr. Jane Mabelle B. Robinson (Larry) of Merritt Island. All but John, Jr. survive, as do 23 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great grandchildren, seven nieces and three nephews, among others.
After leaving the Navy (having attained the rank of LTJG), Dr. Benton completed a residency in pediatrics at Indiana University in Indianapolis, before settling in Panama City and going into private practice in 1950. He soon became involved with the Panama City Civic Music Association, serving as its president and on its board at various times. He was an accomplished pianist.
He regularly performed physical examinations for the Boy Scouts at Camp Euchee as a volunteer, helped found the Bay County Child Guidance Clinic, and was on the founding board of the Boys and Girls Club of Bay County. In 2010 the Panama City Kiwanis Club established the "Dr. John J. Benton Award" to honor a Kiwanian that has lived a life of service to children, and honored him as the first recipient.
He served on the Human Rights Advocacy Committee for Sunland in Marianna, and was on the Board of Directors of the Bay County Council on Aging. Last year when he wrote a letter resigning from the Kiwanis Club because of ill health, the club refused his resignation although they informed him they would not accept any more dues from him. Dr. Benton was a parishioner of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, and served on the vestry there.
He made several trips to Latin America as a medical missionary. In the late sixties, he served with the Peace Corps in Colombia, moving with his wife and five youngest children to Medellin for two years.
Afterwards, he returned to Panama City and private practice. Over the decades he gave balloons to thousands of young patients. He was, of course, fond of children. But he was not unaware of their proclivity for grasping anything in reach and for that reason always wore bow ties, a habit he maintained after he closed his practice to pursue a career in public health.
He was in charge of the health departments in Washington, Gulf and Franklin Counties before his long service as head of the Bay County Health Department. Only months before retirement benefits would have vested, he resigned to take care of his wife during her last illness. At a retirement ceremony, it was said, "He was in public health even when he was still in private practice."
On December 23, 1994, Dr. Benton went to Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, where he had been married fifty years earlier, to say prayers: His wife had died some nine months before they would have celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. A person of genuine humility, he always seemed slightly embarrassed to hear how highly those who knew him best thought of him. In life's storms, he was a beacon of equanimity.
Services will be held on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The family will receive friends at the church before the funeral, beginning at 10:00 a.m., and at Wilson Funeral Home on Tuesday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The interment at Greenwood Cemetery will be private.
Those desiring to make memorial donations might contribute to their favorite children's charities.
Wilson Funeral Home, Apr 6, 2017
His maternal grandfather was a country doctor who studied at the University of Edinburgh before returning to the family homestead in Wacahoota, Marion County, Florida. His paternal grandfather, who was born to American missionaries on Crete when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, himself became an Episcopal priest.
Dr. Benton outlived all his siblings: Robert Tyrie Benton, an engineer who helped support the family after Dean Benton's death in 1930, including by working in the oil fields in Venezuela; Charles Richard Benton, a pediatrician in Pensacola; and Hugh Herbert Benton, the first certified public accountant to open an office in Boca Raton.
Absent for much of the spring of his senior year of high school—having been excused to go sailing with his eldest brother in the Bahamas for several weeks (on the Duchess after Tyrie had sailed it in a race from Tampa to Havana)—John nevertheless graduated from P.K. Yonge in 1938.
That fall he began college, at 15 the youngest student then enrolled at the University of Florida. A Theta Chi, he helped finance his education by working in the summer in the actuarial department of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in New York. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa in mathematics in 1942, he joined the United States Navy and began medical school at Johns Hopkins, where he earned his M.D. at age 22.
Assigned alphabetically upon his arrival at Johns Hopkins, his anatomy lab partner was Fredericka Bart Berger, a Vassar alumna from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The partnership flourished in and out of class. They were married December 23, 1944, almost three months to the day before the brother with whom he had gone sailing in the Bahamas was killed in action over Germany.
John and Fredericka had ten children: The Hon. Robert Tyrie Benton, II (Wings) of Tallahassee; Rebecca Gardiner Benton; Fredericka Lee B. Jura of Treasure Island; John Joseph Benton, Jr. (Marsha); Margaret Nelson B. Hough (John) of Colorado Springs, CO; Ann Williams B. Ruple (Steve); Dr. Thomas Bart Berger Benton (Kathy) of Gainesville; Dr. Christopher Benham Benton (Xiaoyan) of Miami; Dr. Diana Marie Benton of Gainesville; and Dr. Jane Mabelle B. Robinson (Larry) of Merritt Island. All but John, Jr. survive, as do 23 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great grandchildren, seven nieces and three nephews, among others.
After leaving the Navy (having attained the rank of LTJG), Dr. Benton completed a residency in pediatrics at Indiana University in Indianapolis, before settling in Panama City and going into private practice in 1950. He soon became involved with the Panama City Civic Music Association, serving as its president and on its board at various times. He was an accomplished pianist.
He regularly performed physical examinations for the Boy Scouts at Camp Euchee as a volunteer, helped found the Bay County Child Guidance Clinic, and was on the founding board of the Boys and Girls Club of Bay County. In 2010 the Panama City Kiwanis Club established the "Dr. John J. Benton Award" to honor a Kiwanian that has lived a life of service to children, and honored him as the first recipient.
He served on the Human Rights Advocacy Committee for Sunland in Marianna, and was on the Board of Directors of the Bay County Council on Aging. Last year when he wrote a letter resigning from the Kiwanis Club because of ill health, the club refused his resignation although they informed him they would not accept any more dues from him. Dr. Benton was a parishioner of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, and served on the vestry there.
He made several trips to Latin America as a medical missionary. In the late sixties, he served with the Peace Corps in Colombia, moving with his wife and five youngest children to Medellin for two years.
Afterwards, he returned to Panama City and private practice. Over the decades he gave balloons to thousands of young patients. He was, of course, fond of children. But he was not unaware of their proclivity for grasping anything in reach and for that reason always wore bow ties, a habit he maintained after he closed his practice to pursue a career in public health.
He was in charge of the health departments in Washington, Gulf and Franklin Counties before his long service as head of the Bay County Health Department. Only months before retirement benefits would have vested, he resigned to take care of his wife during her last illness. At a retirement ceremony, it was said, "He was in public health even when he was still in private practice."
On December 23, 1994, Dr. Benton went to Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, where he had been married fifty years earlier, to say prayers: His wife had died some nine months before they would have celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. A person of genuine humility, he always seemed slightly embarrassed to hear how highly those who knew him best thought of him. In life's storms, he was a beacon of equanimity.
Services will be held on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The family will receive friends at the church before the funeral, beginning at 10:00 a.m., and at Wilson Funeral Home on Tuesday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The interment at Greenwood Cemetery will be private.
Those desiring to make memorial donations might contribute to their favorite children's charities.
Wilson Funeral Home, Apr 6, 2017
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