1926
Louise
2017
Louise Benton
December 22, 1926 — February 21, 2017
Louise Benton, 90, passed away Tuesday, February 21, 2017, at her residence. Visitation will be 9am Thurs. Feb. 23, 2017 at Brandon Baptist Church in Brandon, MS. Funeral Services will follow at 11am Thurs. Feb. 23, 2017 at the church with a 2pm graveside service to follow at the Poplar Springs Baptist Church Cemetery in Mendenhall, MS. Dr. Clarence Cooper and Rev. Farley Ernest will officiate the services. Honorary Pallbearers will be Dr. Richard Myers, Rev. Dr. David Myers, Dan Myers, Tommy McCann, Larry Benton, Mike Boyd, Wayne Ball, Robert May, Waymon Tigrett, Pat Guest, Rodney Joiner, Marcus Martin, Richard Barnhill, Carlos Bradshaw and Rev. Bernard Nail. Ott & Lee Funeral Home in Brandon, MS is handling arrangements.
The only surviving child Ray Hartwell Hancock and Edna Alvah Sandlin, Louise Hancock Benton was born December 22, 1926, in Zavalla, TX, in the home of her grandparents, James Walter and Katie Sandlin. She was delivered by her great-uncle, country doctor Wayne Hancock, who owned Ray Drug Store, named for and managed by her father before the days of registered pharmacists. A lover of great literature, he acquired a valuable library which was put to intensive use by his only child. A deep lover of the land, he settled his family on a small farm in Tyler County, TX. Having no son, he taught his daughter a working knowledge -hands on- of farm life. Her young mother, isolated on the farm, spent many hours teaching her to love reading and to recite poetry. Her spiritual life was developed in a Bible-reading home and enriched by regular participation in the activities of a little white church that encouraged young people to be heard.
Louise’s early formal education was acquired in a four-room school house which she reached on foot and which came complete with outdoor plumbing. In a caring atmosphere, committed teachers implanted both subject matter and life lessons. In the ninth grade, just prior to World War II, she moved with her family to Biloxi, MS. An honor graduate of Biloxi High School, she also worked as a clerk-typist-proofreader at Keesler Field, constructed in 1940. An active member of Biloxi First Baptist Church, she taught children and was an assistant hostess for the church program which sponsored activities for service men at Keesler and other local bases.
Enrolling at Mississippi State College for Women in 1944, she finished in three and a half years, graduation cum laude with degrees in art and English with teaching certificates in both areas. Her memberships included Lantern, Torch and Mortar Board (class honor societies), Kappa Pi honorary art fraternity, Theater Guild and Student Christian Association.
In the summer of 1946, while attending a course in Shakespeare at MSU, she met Tom Benton, Baptist Student Union President, who was resuming his education after serving three and a half years in the Air Force. After marrying in 1948, they lived in Mendenhall, MS, where Louise taught high-school English and Tom taught returning service personnel to adjust to civilian life via the GI Bill of Rights.
After Tom went to work in 1949, for the Soil Conservation Service, the family lived in New Albany, Oxford, McCarley and Winona, MS. In each town, the family participated in multiple church activities and civic organizations, especially in Oxford, where they designed and built their first home adjacent to the Ole Miss campus. After Tom’s promotion to the State USDA office in 1957, they settled permanently with three children in Brandon, MS, building a home designed by Louise in 1959. In 1961, Louise agreed to fill in for a resigning BHS librarian and in 1962 began teaching English II, Journalism and Speech. She also sponsored the yearbook, the high school newspaper and the Quill and Scroll Journalism Society.
In 1965, she became the first art teacher in the Brandon school system and in 1987 was teaching Art I through IV and Advanced Placement Art (first program in Mississippi). She organized the first National Art Honor Society in Mississippi and the thirteenth in the US. In 1979, she designed and oversaw the construction of the first BHS art studio. Over the years, her students won numerous state and national awards and her advanced students taught art to elementary students.
She belonged to numerous organizations, including MS Art Education Association, National Art Education Association (commended for outstanding contribution to art in the Southern Region), Mississippi Museum of Art (charter and long-time docent), Mississippi Education Association, Mississippi Watercolor Society, National Museum of Women in the Arts (charter), National Women’s History Museum (charter), Rankin Health Foundation and Brandon Historical and Genealogical Society (charter). Active in many local and state organizations, she was faithful in the work of two Brandon churches, initially in First Baptist Church, where she sang in the choir and ladies’ ensemble, taught Sunday School and designed and executed art work for numerous occasions.
In 2003, she became a charter member of Brandon Baptist Church where she was active until her death. There she sang in the choir and ladies’ ensemble and taught the Louise Benton Sunday School Class. As chairman of the history committee she collected and organized material used to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Brandon Baptist Church.
In retirement Louise enjoyed producing art in multiple media in her Hummingbird Studio. She held numerous one-woman exhibits and was accepted in juried competitions. She is represented in individual and corporate collections and donated regularly to such charitable organizations as the Mississippi Symphony, Art for Heart and Candlelighters Calendar for the Children’s Hospital. She was a calligrapher and is listed in Personalities of the South.
Louise is preceded in death by her parents, her husband and two of her children: Christopher Ray (Chris) and Rebecca Lynn (Becky). She is succeeded by her son, Keith Randall; by numerous cousins in Texas and Louisiana and by her husband’s nephews and nieces in Mississippi and Tennesse.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Brandon Baptist Church Building Fund at 100 Brandon Baptist Dr. Brandon, MS 39042.
The only surviving child Ray Hartwell Hancock and Edna Alvah Sandlin, Louise Hancock Benton was born December 22, 1926, in Zavalla, TX, in the home of her grandparents, James Walter and Katie Sandlin. She was delivered by her great-uncle, country doctor Wayne Hancock, who owned Ray Drug Store, named for and managed by her father before the days of registered pharmacists. A lover of great literature, he acquired a valuable library which was put to intensive use by his only child. A deep lover of the land, he settled his family on a small farm in Tyler County, TX. Having no son, he taught his daughter a working knowledge -hands on- of farm life. Her young mother, isolated on the farm, spent many hours teaching her to love reading and to recite poetry. Her spiritual life was developed in a Bible-reading home and enriched by regular participation in the activities of a little white church that encouraged young people to be heard.
Louise’s early formal education was acquired in a four-room school house which she reached on foot and which came complete with outdoor plumbing. In a caring atmosphere, committed teachers implanted both subject matter and life lessons. In the ninth grade, just prior to World War II, she moved with her family to Biloxi, MS. An honor graduate of Biloxi High School, she also worked as a clerk-typist-proofreader at Keesler Field, constructed in 1940. An active member of Biloxi First Baptist Church, she taught children and was an assistant hostess for the church program which sponsored activities for service men at Keesler and other local bases.
Enrolling at Mississippi State College for Women in 1944, she finished in three and a half years, graduation cum laude with degrees in art and English with teaching certificates in both areas. Her memberships included Lantern, Torch and Mortar Board (class honor societies), Kappa Pi honorary art fraternity, Theater Guild and Student Christian Association.
In the summer of 1946, while attending a course in Shakespeare at MSU, she met Tom Benton, Baptist Student Union President, who was resuming his education after serving three and a half years in the Air Force. After marrying in 1948, they lived in Mendenhall, MS, where Louise taught high-school English and Tom taught returning service personnel to adjust to civilian life via the GI Bill of Rights.
After Tom went to work in 1949, for the Soil Conservation Service, the family lived in New Albany, Oxford, McCarley and Winona, MS. In each town, the family participated in multiple church activities and civic organizations, especially in Oxford, where they designed and built their first home adjacent to the Ole Miss campus. After Tom’s promotion to the State USDA office in 1957, they settled permanently with three children in Brandon, MS, building a home designed by Louise in 1959. In 1961, Louise agreed to fill in for a resigning BHS librarian and in 1962 began teaching English II, Journalism and Speech. She also sponsored the yearbook, the high school newspaper and the Quill and Scroll Journalism Society.
In 1965, she became the first art teacher in the Brandon school system and in 1987 was teaching Art I through IV and Advanced Placement Art (first program in Mississippi). She organized the first National Art Honor Society in Mississippi and the thirteenth in the US. In 1979, she designed and oversaw the construction of the first BHS art studio. Over the years, her students won numerous state and national awards and her advanced students taught art to elementary students.
She belonged to numerous organizations, including MS Art Education Association, National Art Education Association (commended for outstanding contribution to art in the Southern Region), Mississippi Museum of Art (charter and long-time docent), Mississippi Education Association, Mississippi Watercolor Society, National Museum of Women in the Arts (charter), National Women’s History Museum (charter), Rankin Health Foundation and Brandon Historical and Genealogical Society (charter). Active in many local and state organizations, she was faithful in the work of two Brandon churches, initially in First Baptist Church, where she sang in the choir and ladies’ ensemble, taught Sunday School and designed and executed art work for numerous occasions.
In 2003, she became a charter member of Brandon Baptist Church where she was active until her death. There she sang in the choir and ladies’ ensemble and taught the Louise Benton Sunday School Class. As chairman of the history committee she collected and organized material used to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Brandon Baptist Church.
In retirement Louise enjoyed producing art in multiple media in her Hummingbird Studio. She held numerous one-woman exhibits and was accepted in juried competitions. She is represented in individual and corporate collections and donated regularly to such charitable organizations as the Mississippi Symphony, Art for Heart and Candlelighters Calendar for the Children’s Hospital. She was a calligrapher and is listed in Personalities of the South.
Louise is preceded in death by her parents, her husband and two of her children: Christopher Ray (Chris) and Rebecca Lynn (Becky). She is succeeded by her son, Keith Randall; by numerous cousins in Texas and Louisiana and by her husband’s nephews and nieces in Mississippi and Tennesse.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Brandon Baptist Church Building Fund at 100 Brandon Baptist Dr. Brandon, MS 39042.
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