Dr. Allen H. Benton
Dr. Allen H. Benton of Fredonia, a retired Dis-tinguished Professor at SUNY Fredonia, passed away on September 29, 2014 after a brief illness. Dr. Benton was a highly respected educator, as well as a writer, poet, lifelong bird-watcher and beloved husband and father. He was 93 years old.
Allen Benton was born September 4, 1921 to Hay-don W. Benton and Pearl Diddy Benton in Cato, New York. He graduated from Cato High School and earned BS, MS and PhD degrees from Cornell University. A combat soldier in World War II, he served with the 112 Cavalry Regimental Combat Team and saw action in Luzon, the Philippines and Japan.
Dr. Benton taught classes in numerous fields of biology at SUNY Albany for 13 years and at SUNY Fredonia for 22 years, where he was the first professor to receive the New York State Distinguished Teacher award. He was the co-author of a highly successful field biology text-book published by McGraw-Hill. While in Albany, he appeared on television in a weekly show on bird-watching on WRGB TV and published a weekly newspaper column, “On the Wing,” in the Knickerbocker News. In Fredonia, his weekly nature column, “World of the Wild,” appeared for two decades in the Dunkirk OBSERVER.
Dr. Benton was an internationally recognized expert on the biology of fleas. He was also an avid reader and lover of poetry and wrote a number of volumes of poems, several novels and a detailed recounting of his war experiences. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Fredonia, where he worshiped for many years. His love of puns and word games, the ability to recite lengthy poems and his prodigious memory for arcane facts will be missed by his family and friends.
Allen is survived by his wife of 67 years, Marjorie Hall Benton, his children, Thomas and Holly Benton, his grandchildren, Kerry Benton, Timothy Benton, Meghan Rutherford and Amy Rutherford and several nieces and nephews. His son, Christopher, predeceased him.
Dr. Benton donated his body to the University of Buffalo Medical School. His family is planning a Memorial Service to be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, mourners are requested to consider a donation to The New York State Nature Conservancy, The First Presbyterian Church of Fredonia or another chosen charity.