Benson C. Sargent | Obituaries

Benson C. Sargent BARRE – Benson Collins Sargent, 78, died peacefully of pancreatic cancer at his home on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, surrounded by his 56-year-old wife and immediate family. Benson’s birthday house was on Terry Hill in Fairlee, where Benson loved to tell how his older brothers told him that on his birthday, May 18, 1943, his mother had been away from home for a week or 10 days and then suddenly came back with Benson (wrapped in baby blue diapers) and neither of the two brothers (five and 10 years older) knew exactly where their mother had been, where Benson had come from, or how he had got there … the Five and Dime maybe or the Montgomery Guardian? In the early days, Benson attended Fairlee Grammar School in the warmer months and was taught in the South and Southwest in the winter months. His parents sought warm, dry air for his father’s asthma during the winter months, when there were few treatments for the disease in those years. In 1961, Benson graduated from Bradford Academy, where he was letterman in baseball and golf for four years and was elected president of his class for four years. Benson continued these sports into adulthood, but not before winning the Vermont American Legion Baseball Championship with the Hartford Legion in 1960. Benson loved his Red Sox and saw them play live from spring training in the 1950s in Sarasota, Florida to their four World Series wins in the new millennium. He was also an avid Norwich University hockey fan and had season tickets to his alma mater for the last 20 years in a row. In 1965, Benson earned a BSCE degree in civil engineering and was promoted to 2nd Lt. commissioned in the US Army at Norwich University. He made multiple dean lists and trained in the Mountain and Cold Weather Training Program while demonstrating world-class excellence on the shooting range at Fort Devins ROTC Summer Camp. He was invited to join the 1st Army Rifle Team to compete against other Army divisions that summer. Years later, Benson returned to Norwich and UVM to earn a Masters of Engineering degree in 1978 with an emphasis on drinking water treatment and land use from wastewater. A month after earning his BSCE, Benson and Pat exchanged vows at Fairlee Federated Church. It was her love of dancing that first attracted her. During their 56-year marriage, Benson and Patricia were blessed with four children, two daughters, and two sons. Then, suddenly and quite tragically, their daughter Kelly was called by our Lord Jesus within 24 hours at the age of 7 while Benson, Pat and family were living in Barre. After 25 years of active and reserve service, Benson retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel. During his active years of service, he served in the Dominican Republic, then Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he took command of the 200 soldiers who provided transportation and equipment for the cadets of the 3rd Army ROTC summer camp. His assignments to the Army Reserve were in Vermont and Virginia, including the Research and Development Base at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where he helped develop the (ROWPU) water treatment plant. This ROWPU unit was used in the Gulf Wars to convert salt water into fresh water that is used for washing, showering and bathing. After completing his active military service, Benson pursued a professional, civilian career in environmental engineering. His years with the Vermont Environmental Protection Department and the Water Department culminated in his promotion to assistant director of the Vermont Water Department. That period included his most productive years with the Vermont water program. For example, VPIRG’s “Frogs in the Faucet” reputation has been replaced by a town in northern Vermont with a new system of fountains for that town and the construction of some of the most advanced surface water treatment plants in the country, including Readsboro, Rutland City, Barre City and Bellows Falls , Vermont. In 2001, when he retired from Vermont after 30 years, Benson was asked to join the U.S. Public Health Service as a water systems engineer on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico, where he built community-style water systems for ten years. Practical planning, project funding, design and construction of water systems for the Navajo community for the Navajo people was the main task. Inviting Navajo communities to attend every celebration of completed new water projects was the greatest highlight of his Navajo experience. But perhaps its greatest Navajo award was the 2003 Indian Health Service Director’s Award for “excellence, dedication, and commitment to the overall mission of the Indian health service, the public health service of the United States.” His commitment to fellowship and worship extended to every residence from the Congregational Church of Barre to Pinion Hills Church in Farmington, New Mexico. Early in the Barre experience, Benson was a member of the Jr. Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees), where he served as the local director of the Barre Chapter. He was active in the Barre Cub and Boy Scouts of America and led several Little League and Babe Ruth teams for Barre, in which his sons played. He was also a member of the American Legion and the Bradford Academy Alumni Association. For the past several years he has served on the Barre Flags for Veterans Committee, which honors veterans at Barre cemeteries. Other memberships and activities included the Vermont Society of Engineers; Registered professional engineers; the Native American Jewelry and Antiques Association; the Barre Country Club; the early Ford V8 Club; Alpine skiing; Western swing dancing; the Rockies on four wheels; Raising raspberries and blueberries; and take part in their grandchildren’s leisure, family and sports activities. Although Benson led an active and accomplished life, he considered his greatest achievement in being a devoted father, loving husband, and beloved grandfather. Survivors include his wife, Pat, who has cared for him lovingly for the past few months when his health deteriorated; his three children Beth Hoffman and her husband Ry from Cabot, Vermont, Todd Sargent and his wife Katia from Nassau, Bahamas, and Chris Sargent and his partner Deborah Kelly from Chicago; his five grandchildren Camryn and Summer Hoffman from Cabot, Vermont, and Luka, Noelia and Paulo Sargent from Nassau, Bahamas; his two brothers Harold E. Sargent from Barre with an extended family and Paul A. Sargent and his wife Joan from Fairlee with an extended family. In addition to his parents and grandparents, he had previously died from his daughter Kelly; his nephew, Mark Sargent; his sister-in-law Evelyn “Peggy” Sargent; and many aunts and uncles. A celebration of life for friends and family will be held on Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 1 p.m. at Barre Parish Church, 35 Church St., Barre. There are no office hours. Instead of flowers, donations can be made to the Barre Opera House, PO Box 583, Barre, VT 05641; or Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice, 600 Granger Road, Barre, VT 05641. Arrangements are made at the Hooker Whitcomb Funeral Home, 7 Academy St., Barre. For a memorial guest book, please visit www.hookerwhitcomb.com