Jesse Daniel Benoit

1982 - 2026

Jesse Daniel Benoit passed away peacefully at home on March 4, 2026 and, in doing so, left us a simple directive: "March forth". He was a dedicated, gentle, and generous man. In dying on the only date on the calendar that is a call to action when it is spoken aloud, he gifted us with a permanent reminder of his wish for us - that we move forward together and continue to build and celebrate the lives that we had shared with him and each other.

He was born in Tallahassee, FL on November 1, 1982, the youngest of four boys who would later be followed by their only baby sister. During his middle school years, his family relocated to North Adams, MA where he graduated from McCann Technical High School and he stole the heart of the girl who would follow him around the world. They married at nineteen, he joined the Air Force, and they lived happily and grew their family as the military shuffled them from place to place: Dover, DE. Yokota, Japan. Salt Lake City, UT. In 2013, after earning a degree in Aviation Maintenance Technology from the Community College of the Air Force, he retired and they moved their family to Cincinnati, OH. It was there that they bought their forever home and affectionately dubbed it "The Burrow". Jesse had a deep-seated desire to help people that manifested itself as a post-military career in IT helpdesk, which he found fulfilling (even if he did occasionally mutter, "Did you submit a ticket?" and "Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?" in his sleep).

A self-proclaimed nerd, he loved Star Wars, video games, board games, and horror movies: essentially, he loved to play. He was creative and loved to create cosplays from scratch to wear to conventions. He taught himself how to sew costumes and crochet. He found joy in everyday things and he readily shared this joy with his wife and his children and his friends. He was proud of the fact that we cultivated an environment of laughter in our home and he worked every single day to be a better dad than he had been the day before. He even got ordained in order to perform his daughter's marriage ceremony last fall. Being a dad was his calling and he excelled at it.

As cancer took him from us far too soon, Jesse's "survived by" list is very long: his wife of twenty-four years, Reece Benoit; his three children, Riley (Will) Fenton, Maxwell Benoit, and Wesley Benoit; his bonus-kid/sister-in-law, Taylor (Ezra) Dennis; his parents, Barbara Lampron of North Adams, MA, Jeffrey Benoit of Cincinnati, OH, and step-mother Marcia Benoit of Chattahoochee, FL; his siblings, Josh (Kelli) Benoit, Jonas Benoit, Josiah (Kimberly) Benoit, Heidi (Jason) Cooper, Cherie (Tom) Vuong, and Kerri (Michael) Taddia; many nieces and nephews; and too many important extended and chosen family members to name.

Jesse's death did not come as a surprise, as he was given an eighteen-month prognosis back in 2024. We decided as a family that we wanted to celebrate him while he was still with us and held his FUN-eral on September 13, 2025 - eighteen months from the day he was given that prognosis. His family and friends did not disappoint - they traveled from all over the country to come and dance, share stories, play with balloon swords, and even get matching tattoos with him. He was thoroughly celebrated and loved. His burial at Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary will be a private event.

Jesse spent two summers of his youth in Haiti with an organization now called "The Haiti Plunge", helping to build schools and hospitals. This cause has always been dear to him and we request that donations be made in his honor in lieu of flowers. (https://www.thehaitiplunge.org)

We also request that whoever reads this joins us in following his directive, on his behalf: Find joy and march forth.