Benton Holford Elliott

ELLIOTT, Col. Benton Holford Was born on October 11, 1918 and died on December 10, 2008. Benton was a young boy during the Great Depression, and worked many jobs to save enough money to attend Texas A&M University. He graduated at the top of his class, and received one of two regular Marine Corps Commissions offered to the most outstanding cadets. After 23 years of serving his country in World War II in the Pacific, the Korean War, and Vietnam, Benton retired as a Colonel. He then spent the next 20 years in International Business working for General Electric Company in Erie, PA. Throughout his life, Benton was an accomplished portrait painter. He was the only artist apprenticed by the late Gerald L. Brockhurst, a renowned portrait painter from the Royal Academy in London. Colonel Elliott was an officer and a gentleman. He is survived by his beloved wife of 66 years Billy, his children Benton Hayden and Gayle, his grandchildren Kyle, Benjamin, and Benton Hayden, Jr., and great grandchildren Hayden and Dillon. A Memorial Service will be held at Brooksby Village in Peabody, MA on December 18 at 2:30 PM.