Harry J. Benton

1928 - 2022

Benton, Harry J.
06-15-1928 - 01-24-2022

Harry J. Benton, 93, entertaining storyteller, avid skier, bridge player, and gentleman whose handshake was his bond. Harry was born on June 15, 1928 in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia. He arrived in the United States onboard the Queen Mary on December 15, 1938, his family settling in the greater New York area.

Harry is a graduate of Williams College ('48) and the Harvard Business School ('50). Upon graduation from Harvard, he spent a year on the faculty, writing cases.

After a brief period in the scrap iron business, he was called in to the Air Force as a Lieutenant. Since he had degrees in both physics and management he was assigned to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Command, supervising the atomic weapons arena.

After a brief stay with a national research corporation, he returned to the family business of supplying malt to breweries all over the world, which entailed a great deal of foreign travel. This also gave him the opportunity to purchase the SevenUp bottling company in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he lived and operated for ten years and was President of the Puerto Rico Soft Drink Association. In 1975 he broadened the activities in the brewing industry and joined John I. Haas, the world's largest producer of hops, where he eventually became Executive Vice President.

Having retired from business and developed the love of skiing, he moved to Snowmass Village, Colorado in 1982. There he joined an audacious and fun men's skiing group, calling themselves "The Snowballers". Needing something to do in the summers, he bought and started a cattle ranch in nearby Rifle, Colorado. He became President of The Aspen Country Day School and was on the board of Youth zone, a service organization for troubled teens.

Later, he owned and operated 5 California radio stations. Eventually moving from Snowmass to Boulder, first living at the Academy before moving in with his daughter and grandson.

Harry passed peacefully in his home in Boulder on January 24, 2022 with family present. He is survived by his two daughters from his first marriage, Carol and Lorna along with three grandsons, Kyle, Tyler, and Alex. He is preceded in death by his second wife, Ursula, with whom he had a son, Paul and grandchildren, Henry and Elizabeth. Harry J. Benton will be remembered for his charm, loyalty, humor, and encyclopedic knowledge.