Dr. Lavonn Marceil Benson

SERVICES:  SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30, 20123:00 P. M.PINE GROVE CHURCH OF GODVISITATION: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 20124:00 - 7:00 P. M. AT MCCLAIN-HAYS AND 1 HOUR PRIOR TO SERVICE ON SUNDAY AT PINE GROVE CHURCH OF GOD INTERMENT:  PINE GROVE CEMETERYOFFICIATING:  REV. LISA BENSON PATTERSON LaVonn Marceil Benson, Ph.D., passed away on December 25, 2012 at the Forest Convalescent Center in Forest MS. She was born January 4, 1928 in Neshoba County MS and was preceded in death by her parents, S. H. and Laura Etta Benson, sisters Jennie Lee Smith of Philadelphia MS, Ethel Pylate of Meridian MS, and brothers L.V. Benson of Philadelphia MS, Thomas N. Benson of Neshoba County MS, and Lester L. Benson of Fort Myers FL. She is survived by one brother, Joseph B. Benson of Neshoba County MS, and nineteen nieces and nephews. Dr. Benson grew up in the Dixon community in Neshoba County, graduating from high school there in 1946. She received her BA degree from Anderson University in Anderson IN in 1952, her M.S. degree in Education from Florida State University in 1959 and her Ph.D. in English from George Peabody College in Nashville TN in 1971. She taught in the public schools in Florida and in universities in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. She worked the last sixteen years of her teaching career at Middle Georgia College in Cochran GA, retiring in 1993. She spent her retirement years in Philadelphia MS where she was a member of First Church of God. She enjoyed participating in a writers’ group in Meridian, and working on her family’s history. Dr. Benson traveled widely during her life. She spent six weeks in India in 1985 on a Fulbright Cultural Exchange studying women’s rights. She also traveled to Morocco, Turkey, Russia, and throughout Europe.Pallbearers were Dennis Benson, Scott Hill, Robert Benson, Hank Benson, Thomas Benson and John Mark Benson.  Honorary pallbearer was Joseph B. Benson.