Jean Beshell Benton

Jean Beshell Benton passed away at Brandon Court on September 30, 2010. Visitation is 5-8pm today at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl. Funeral services are 2:00pm Saturday, October 2, 2010 at First Baptist Church of Brandon East Campus/College Street. Interment will follow in Brandon Memorial Gardens.

Jean Katherine was born on October 22, 1921 in Hull, Texas to O.H. (Peck) and Lois Galloway Beshell. Peck was a supervisor for Magnolia Pipeline Company and the family moved all over the state of Texas as Jeanie grew up. She attended 13 schools in her 12 years and still graduated at the top of her class at Greenwood, La. High School on the Texas/Louisiana border. Jean attended TSCW for 2 years and then went to the University of Texas in Austin. She was a member of A O Pi sorority and Women in Communications and graduated in May of 1943. In 1944, while she was living in Austin and working at a newspaper, one of her friends invited her to Mother’s Day lunch where she was introduced to the love of her life, A.L. Benton, Jr. from Mendenhall, MS. A.L. was stationed at Camp Swift outside of Austin before being shipped out to Germany. The couple corresponded until A.L. returned after the end of the war, and they were married in Terrell, Texas on October 19, 1946.

They began married life in Raymond, MS, where their son Larry was born. After stops on the Gulf Coast and Cleveland, A.L. and Jean settled in Brandon in 1953 and spent 50 happy years there together. They were active members in First Baptist Church of Brandon. Jean taught Sunday Schoolfor over 25 years, was head of the WMU for several years, and she served on many committees. As the first church secretary at the church, Jean started the Beam, a weekly newsletter. She served as secretary for 10 years. Jean held various Associational and State offices in the WMU and served a term on the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board of Directors.

Jean was proud of her family heritage and was a member of the Chief Red Jacket Chapter of the D.A.R. for twenty-five years. Beside her family and her church, Jean enjoyed reading. She read as many as four or five books a week in her years at Peachtree. Another pastime was watching football and basketball on TV, as long as the MSU Bulldogs or the Texas Longhorns were playing.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Peck and Lois Beshell and her husband A.L. Benton Jr. Her survivors include her sister Jill Beshell of Flowood, her son Larry and his wife Barbara of Brandon, granddaughters Sara Hagar (Randy) of Brandon and Stephanie Cayson (David) of Tupelo, and 5 great grandchildren, Alex, Anna, Maggie, Audrey, and Haley.

In lieu of flowers, the family request that memorials be sent to Benton-Comfort Missions, 22 Stonegate Dr., Brandon, MS 39042 or the building fund at Brandon Baptist Church, 100 Brandon Baptist Drive, Brandon, MS 39042.

The family would like to give special thanks to her best friend/roommate, Mrs. Audrey C. and the staff at Brandon Court for taking such good care of Jean during the last 18 months.