Jimmy Lee Benner passed away on Tuesday at his home in Woodburn, Oregon. Jim was born in Sanborn, Iowa to Harry E. and Estella Stonesifer Benner; and raised in Richmond, California.
This is where he embraced his career as a floor mechanic and where he met his future bride, Eleanor Belseth Benner. The two met on a blind date; he, just out of high school. They wed in 1955, thus beginning their 67-year love story. They lovingly raised two children at their home on the Abiqua, just outside of Silverton.
Jim shared a love of hunting, fishing, golfing, and Let-It-Ride poker. He has left a legacy of home remodels, landscape gardening, woodcrafts, and tile work in each of the homes they shared from Concord, California to Silverton, Oregon; Janesville and Lincoln, California to Sweet Home, Oregon; finally retiring to Woodburn in 2008.
Jim is survived by his wife, Eleanor; their daughter, Stacy; and son-out-law Rodney Tishmack – all of Woodburn; his one remaining brother, Charles, of Concord, CA; and many loving extended family members. He was preceded in death by his son, Michael, his parents, and seven other siblings.
He was loved by all and will be greatly missed. No service is planned. Arrangements by Unger Funeral Chapel.
