FORT GIBSON – Graveside services for Gerald Chester Benn will be 11 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15, in the Fort Gibson National Cemetery under the care of Green Country Funeral Home.
Officiating will be Rev. James Graham. Honorary pallbearers are Bobby Ivins, Kelly Whiteley, Ken Willis, B.J. Dry, Tom Eckert, Carl Scott, Henry Bias, Charlie Carroll, Gene Thompson, Gerald Stowers, and Don Bowman. A memorial will follow at 3 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Tahlequah. Online condolences may be left at tahlequahfuneral.com.
Gerald Benn was born Dec. 7, 1934, in Sulphur, to Roy Benn and Esther (Barton) Benn. He passed away on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, in Claremore, at age 79.
Gerald is a 1953 graduate of Sulphur High School where he was selected as a member of the 1952 All State football team and played in the Oil Bowl. He served in the United States Army from 1953 until 1957 where he played for the post football team at Fort Ord, California. In 1955, his team won the National Service Championship with a 12-2 record losing only to Fort Sill and the Los Angeles Rams. He also received the National Defense Services Medal while serving his country.
After the army, Gerald received a football scholarship to Oklahoma State University and lettered three years. He was an academic All American in 1960, the OSU Big Eight Medallion winner awarded for academic excellence, and the recipient of the Alumni Association Outstanding Athlete Award. While at OSU, Gerald was on the Dean’s Honor Roll for eight semesters, was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor society, and played against some familiar players including Tom Osborn, Jimmy Johnson, and countless others.
Gerald received his bachelor’s degree from OSU in 1961, and his master’s degree from Northeastern State University in 1965. Gerald then returned to OSU where he earned his doctorate in education in 1975.
His coaching career spanned from 1961 through 1981 in Ponca City and at Northeastern State University. Gerald’s coaching career began in Ponca City where he coached football, wrestling, and baseball.
While teaching and coaching at NSU from 1964-1981, Gerald served as an assistant football coach for the NSU Redmen. They won the OIC Conference three times and played in the 1980 National Championship game. While coaching football, his record was 115-57-6.
Coach Benn was also the head baseball coach at NSU for eleven years beginning in 1964. His team won two Collegiate Conference Championships, two District titles, and played two years in the Regional finals. His record was 144 wins and 132 losses. In 1994, Gerald was inducted into Northeastern State University’s Athletic Hall of Fame; in 2005, into the Oklahoma Official’s Hall of Fame; and in 2010, the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Officiating will be Rev. James Graham. Honorary pallbearers are Bobby Ivins, Kelly Whiteley, Ken Willis, B.J. Dry, Tom Eckert, Carl Scott, Henry Bias, Charlie Carroll, Gene Thompson, Gerald Stowers, and Don Bowman. A memorial will follow at 3 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Tahlequah. Online condolences may be left at tahlequahfuneral.com.
Gerald Benn was born Dec. 7, 1934, in Sulphur, to Roy Benn and Esther (Barton) Benn. He passed away on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, in Claremore, at age 79.
Gerald is a 1953 graduate of Sulphur High School where he was selected as a member of the 1952 All State football team and played in the Oil Bowl. He served in the United States Army from 1953 until 1957 where he played for the post football team at Fort Ord, California. In 1955, his team won the National Service Championship with a 12-2 record losing only to Fort Sill and the Los Angeles Rams. He also received the National Defense Services Medal while serving his country.
After the army, Gerald received a football scholarship to Oklahoma State University and lettered three years. He was an academic All American in 1960, the OSU Big Eight Medallion winner awarded for academic excellence, and the recipient of the Alumni Association Outstanding Athlete Award. While at OSU, Gerald was on the Dean’s Honor Roll for eight semesters, was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor society, and played against some familiar players including Tom Osborn, Jimmy Johnson, and countless others.
Gerald received his bachelor’s degree from OSU in 1961, and his master’s degree from Northeastern State University in 1965. Gerald then returned to OSU where he earned his doctorate in education in 1975.
His coaching career spanned from 1961 through 1981 in Ponca City and at Northeastern State University. Gerald’s coaching career began in Ponca City where he coached football, wrestling, and baseball.
While teaching and coaching at NSU from 1964-1981, Gerald served as an assistant football coach for the NSU Redmen. They won the OIC Conference three times and played in the 1980 National Championship game. While coaching football, his record was 115-57-6.
Coach Benn was also the head baseball coach at NSU for eleven years beginning in 1964. His team won two Collegiate Conference Championships, two District titles, and played two years in the Regional finals. His record was 144 wins and 132 losses. In 1994, Gerald was inducted into Northeastern State University’s Athletic Hall of Fame; in 2005, into the Oklahoma Official’s Hall of Fame; and in 2010, the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
FORT GIBSON – Graveside services for Gerald Chester Benn will be 11 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15, in the Fort Gibson National Cemetery under the care of Green Country Funeral Home.
Officiating will be Rev. James Graham. Honorary pallbearers are Bobby Ivins, Kelly Whiteley, Ken Willis, B.J. Dry, Tom Eckert, Carl Scott, Henry Bias, Charlie Carroll, Gene Thompson, Gerald Stowers, and Don Bowman. A memorial will follow at 3 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Tahlequah. Online condolences may be left at tahlequahfuneral.com.
Gerald Benn was born Dec. 7, 1934, in Sulphur, to Roy Benn and Esther (Barton) Benn. He passed away on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, in Claremore, at age 79.
Gerald is a 1953 graduate of Sulphur High School where he was selected as a member of the 1952 All State football team and played in the Oil Bowl. He served in the United States Army from 1953 until 1957 where he played for the post football team at Fort Ord, California. In 1955, his team won the National Service Championship with a 12-2 record losing only to Fort Sill and the Los Angeles Rams. He also received the National Defense Services Medal while serving his country.
After the army, Gerald received a football scholarship to Oklahoma State University and lettered three years. He was an academic All American in 1960, the OSU Big Eight Medallion winner awarded for academic excellence, and the recipient of the Alumni Association Outstanding Athlete Award. While at OSU, Gerald was on the Dean’s Honor Roll for eight semesters, was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor society, and played against some familiar players including Tom Osborn, Jimmy Johnson, and countless others.
Gerald received his bachelor’s degree from OSU in 1961, and his master’s degree from Northeastern State University in 1965. Gerald then returned to OSU where he earned his doctorate in education in 1975.
His coaching career spanned from 1961 through 1981 in Ponca City and at Northeastern State University. Gerald’s coaching career began in Ponca City where he coached football, wrestling, and baseball.
While teaching and coaching at NSU from 1964-1981, Gerald served as an assistant football coach for the NSU Redmen. They won the OIC Conference three times and played in the 1980 National Championship game. While coaching football, his record was 115-57-6.
Coach Benn was also the head baseball coach at NSU for eleven years beginning in 1964. His team won two Collegiate Conference Championships, two District titles, and played two years in the Regional finals. His record was 144 wins and 132 losses. In 1994, Gerald was inducted into Northeastern State University’s Athletic Hall of Fame; in 2005, into the Oklahoma Official’s Hall of Fame; and in 2010, the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Officiating will be Rev. James Graham. Honorary pallbearers are Bobby Ivins, Kelly Whiteley, Ken Willis, B.J. Dry, Tom Eckert, Carl Scott, Henry Bias, Charlie Carroll, Gene Thompson, Gerald Stowers, and Don Bowman. A memorial will follow at 3 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Tahlequah. Online condolences may be left at tahlequahfuneral.com.
Gerald Benn was born Dec. 7, 1934, in Sulphur, to Roy Benn and Esther (Barton) Benn. He passed away on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, in Claremore, at age 79.
Gerald is a 1953 graduate of Sulphur High School where he was selected as a member of the 1952 All State football team and played in the Oil Bowl. He served in the United States Army from 1953 until 1957 where he played for the post football team at Fort Ord, California. In 1955, his team won the National Service Championship with a 12-2 record losing only to Fort Sill and the Los Angeles Rams. He also received the National Defense Services Medal while serving his country.
After the army, Gerald received a football scholarship to Oklahoma State University and lettered three years. He was an academic All American in 1960, the OSU Big Eight Medallion winner awarded for academic excellence, and the recipient of the Alumni Association Outstanding Athlete Award. While at OSU, Gerald was on the Dean’s Honor Roll for eight semesters, was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor society, and played against some familiar players including Tom Osborn, Jimmy Johnson, and countless others.
Gerald received his bachelor’s degree from OSU in 1961, and his master’s degree from Northeastern State University in 1965. Gerald then returned to OSU where he earned his doctorate in education in 1975.
His coaching career spanned from 1961 through 1981 in Ponca City and at Northeastern State University. Gerald’s coaching career began in Ponca City where he coached football, wrestling, and baseball.
While teaching and coaching at NSU from 1964-1981, Gerald served as an assistant football coach for the NSU Redmen. They won the OIC Conference three times and played in the 1980 National Championship game. While coaching football, his record was 115-57-6.
Coach Benn was also the head baseball coach at NSU for eleven years beginning in 1964. His team won two Collegiate Conference Championships, two District titles, and played two years in the Regional finals. His record was 144 wins and 132 losses. In 1994, Gerald was inducted into Northeastern State University’s Athletic Hall of Fame; in 2005, into the Oklahoma Official’s Hall of Fame; and in 2010, the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
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