Clarence Dale Benjamin

Clarence Dale Benjamin, called “Dale” by friends and family, was born in Shelby, Montana on September 22, 1946, to Clarence Elonzo Benjamin and Florence Iona (Wood) Benjamin. His father had just gotten out of the Air Force in California and moved his wife, Florence and two little boys, Richard and Robert, to a small homestead house on the prairie during the winter of 1945, which was a very rude acquaintance for a California girl to Montana winter. The family soon built a new home on the farm out of Devon, Montana. The family moved to Alicel, Oregon, where they farmed for a year or so and then they went back to Montana, where farming was more to his dad's way of farming. Dad had an accident while on the way to Montana looking for a new farm so there were a few years of healing while searching for a new farm, ultimately settling on a farm out of Fort Benton, Montana where Dale finished his schooling, graduating from High School in 1964. Dale was so happy to be out of school that he went running down to the barn to milk the cow and jumped right over the barbed wire fence and broke his leg. He spent the summer in a cast, but mom took pity on him and sewed a black boot to cover the cast so it wouldn't be so obvious when he went to convention. He enrolled in college at Bozeman that fall and studied Agriculture for 3 years, enjoying a great group of friends from the fellowship, bringing 2 of those great fellows' home to meet his sisters, whom they married. He always took great credit for that!

He responded to the call from God to enter the ministry in 1997 and started an amazing journey through life following wherever the spirit of God led him. He started out in Montana, then went to Oregon from 1970 to 1981, at which time he went to Korea, learned the language, which, in many of the letters he wrote back to his parents and family, was no small thing! He became very fluent as his Korean friends and companions would tell us. He really loved the Korean folks and had close ties with them for the rest of his life. He started out in Kazakhstan in 1992, pioneering there where there no friends.

He soon had a companion to help and soon many new friends who believed the message they were bringing. Many of those dear folks are steady and true to this day. He spent time in Moscow, Russia giving his energies to helping his companions adapt to the country as they came to help from many different countries. From Russia, Dale went into Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, bringing Gods Word to countries which knew very little about the Bible. After that he had some time in Israel and Iraq before returning to the US to finish out his journey. As his health failed, he ended up needing much care and lived in the Beehive Assisted Living Center in Great Falls being watched over by his brothers and dear friends.

Dale was preceded in death by his mother, Florence; father, Clarence; sister, Jean Harris; and brother, Gary. He is survived by his brothers and their wives, Richard (Lois) Benjamin, Robert (Marilyn) Benjamin, Joanne (Don) Parsons, Roger (Linda) Benjamin, Raymond (Kerin) Benjamin, and Darrel (Ruth) Benjamin; brother-in-law, Larry Harris; sister-in-law, Jenny Benjamin; many loved nieces, nephews, and cousins; two aunts; great nieces and nephews; and many, many friends.

Dale will be remembered and missed by friends and family, by the messages he left and stories he told. We rejoice that he can be at rest with the ones he loved most in his life, God and Jesus.