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2024 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 201
Celebrating the life of John F. Benton.
 
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 26, 2024
Agreed to by the Senate, February 29, 2024
 

WHEREAS, John F. Benton, longtime executive at the Smithsonian Institution and a beloved member of the Arlington community, died on September 20, 2023; and

WHEREAS, a native of Hopewell, John Benton graduated from Dinwiddie High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from the Robins School of Business of the University of Richmond in 1973; and

WHEREAS, John Benton held a series of increasingly senior positions in public service in Washington, D.C., before embarking on an illustrious 20-year career at the Smithsonian Institution; and

WHEREAS, in 2001, John Benton became associate director for management and public programs at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, guiding the growth and development of the institution until his first retirement in 2013; and

WHEREAS, John Benton was recruited out of retirement four times by the Smithsonian to take high-level positions within the organization, including to serve as deputy undersecretary for finance and administration; and

WHEREAS, John Benton generously devoted himself to supporting a number of local organizations, including the Arlington Community Foundation, the Arlington Free Clinic, the Signature Theatre, the Arlington Commission for the Arts, and the Federal City Performing Arts Association; and

WHEREAS, John Benton was a proud University of Richmond “Spider,” having recently been elected to the University of Richmond Alumni Board; he had recently supported his cherished alma mater by serving as co-chair of his class’s 50th anniversary reunion committee; and

WHEREAS, in recognition of his leadership and experience, John Benton was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to sit on the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum of Virginia, serving as its finance committee chair; and

WHEREAS, John Benton will be fondly remembered and dearly missed by his loving husband and partner of 45 years, David, and numerous other family members and friends in Richmond, Rehoboth Beach, and the Greater Washington area; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of John F. Benton, a treasured member of the Arlington community whose kind and energetic spirit touched countless lives; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of John F. Benton as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.