Philip Dale Benner, 77, a resident of Manchester, TN passed away on Tuesday, August 5, 2014 after a brief illness.
A memorial for Phil will be conducted on Friday, August 15, 2014 at 7pm at Central Funeral Home in Manchester, Tn.
Interment will be conducted at the Leland family cemetery in Perry, Maine (a date yet to be determined).
Phil was born in Perry Maine to the late Cecil Benner and Annie Laura Leach Benner.
He will be forever remembered as a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Phil was a veteran of the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles and a 30 year Chief Master Sgt of the United States Air Force. He was also a Master Mason and a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason. His love of God and Country was comparable to none. He served his country in Japan, Korea, Guam, Thailand, Hawaii and Germany to name a few. Wherever the military sent him, he and Marilyn, his wife of 55 years made it home to their children, Belynda and Mark. Phil retired from the Armed Forces in 1985 and moved to Manchester, TN. He worked as a government contractor in the position of Transportation Manager until 1997 at Arnold Engineering Developing Center in Tullahoma, TN.
Phil is preceded in death by his parents, Cecil (Lubec, Me) and Annie Leach (Perry, Me) his brothers, Cecil, William, and Robert Benner and his sister, Helen Hawkins (all from Perry, Me).
Survivors include, his wife, Marilyn Connick Benner of St Stephen, NB Canada, his daughter, Belynda (Ken) Wilson (Manchester, TN). Grandsons, Jack Wilson (Murfreesboro, TN) and Marc Wilson (Moody AFB, GA). His son, Mark Benner (Manchester), granddaughters, Lani Benner (San Antonio, TX), Rachel Cortinas (Matt) (Bandera, TX), Sarah Benner (Tullahoma, TN), Jacob (Cynthia) (Manchester, TN). Great-grandfather to Skylar, Kannyn, Xander, Thompson and Lucy. Siblings, Margaret Galvez (Mineral Wells, TX) and Eugene Benner (Evelyn) (Berwick, ME.). Numerous nieces and nephews, his best friends James and Joyce Lambert and other devoted friends.
Dads presence was as big as his heart was and at the center of that heart was his family. We were his world and each year when he was in Maine, he would tell my mother that it was time to go, he missed his kids (children and grandchildren)…As his daughter, I speak for my mother, brother and all the ones he loved…We will miss his comforting hugs and the soft whispers he would say as he held us close in his arms. My father, Phil, was the mightiest oak tree, standing tall and strong. He was our hero and our patriarch and his absence will be felt forever….
In lieu of flowers, my father and mothers request is that donations be made to CASAWORKS, Inc. 224 West Fort St, Manchester, TN 37355.
CENTRAL FUNERAL HOME in Charge of Arrangements.
