Ted Benedict

Ted Benedict

Ted Benedict spent a lifetime learning about the world around him

Unfamiliar cultures, exotic languages, foreign customs and the natural beauty of distant lands drove Benedict to explore the globe "Adventurer" is how his family described the man who trekked mountain trails, rafted the rivers of Nepal and spent his free time on his sailboat on Lake Eustis

"He just loved the world," said daughter Carol Deane B Mitnick of McLean, Va

Benedict died Monday, a week after a cardiac arrest He was 69

Born in Key West, Benedict grew up in New Canaan, Conn A gifted long-distance runner at New Canaan High School, Benedict, who was also class president, went on to attend the University of Michigan on a cross-country and track scholarship

He studied philosophy, which younger brother Charles Benedict called fitting because it's the "adventure of the mind" After graduating, Benedict joined the Peace Corps, hoping to see places different from what he was accustomed to in the US

He landed in western Nepal, where he helped design and build roads While there, Benedict learned Nepalese and took up photography He also learned Japanese, Indonesian and Hindi

So in awe with the land and the people of Nepal, Benedict convinced his brother Charles Benedict to join him on a later trip More than 40 years later, Charles, of Beloit, Wis, can still recall a rafting excursion that took the brothers to a waterway few Westerners had ever been

"It was not a good idea to go down that river," Charles said

While traveling Asia and Europe in the late 1960s, Benedict stopped in Istanbul, Turkey,where he met Marjorie Smith She offered him some bread and honey she had purchased in Greece

"When he stopped eating, he fell madly in love," Marjorie said

The two didn't reconnect until several years later While in Atlanta, they shared a pizza on their first date and later married in New Orleans in 1976 The couple went on to have four children

The adventures didn't stop for the newlyweds The couple moved to Indonesia, where Benedict taught English

In 1981, Benedict and his wife moved to Central Florida when he took a position with Lockheed Martin Benedict chose to settle in Mount Dora because "it reminded him of New Canaan," his wife said

The area's lakes allowed Benedict to take up sailing Over time, Benedict, who was a member of the Lake Eustis Sailing Club, amassed a collection of boats and often raced on the weekend

But his wife said he wasn't about winning, though he often placed in local regattas

The Benedict family, including Benedict's 93-year-old father, Bill of Chapel Hill, NC, traveled to Alaska in 2011 The following year, Benedict, his wife and his father toured the Great Lakes, stopping at lighthouses and breweries along the way

This article was used with permission of the Orlando Sentinel, copyright 2013, and reprinted in the New Canaan Advertiser at the request of Mr Benedict's family