Carl Ernest Benninghoff died peacefully in his home in Sarasota, FL on February 19, 2017 at the age of 82.
Mr. Benninghoff was born on July 9, 1934 in Staten Island, New York. Carl spent 4 years in the Navy before attending SUNY at Oswego. He was married to his wife Roberta on January 23, 1957 in Oswego, New York. Carl then earned his Master of Science Degree in Education from Rutgers University. He was a teacher in South Brunswick, New Jersey for 8 years, and a school Principal for 17 years.
Carl & Roberta then retired to Florida where they have lived since 1986. The Church of the Palms became Carl & Roberta’s church home in Sarasota. Carl volunteered for 30 years at the Mote Marine Laboratory. He also gave his time to Florida House, Wilson House, Habitat for Humanity as well as tutoring children from local schools. All of Carl’s volunteering still included teaching, which has always been his life’s calling. Carl’s passion for mission trips began in 1965 with a trip to Africa where he was fortunate enough to work with Albert Schweitzer. Other trips include Haiti, Honduras, as well as several trips to Maine. Mr. Benninghoff was a regular at Ed Smith Stadium for Spring training games for the last 30 years. His teams included the Red Sox, the White Sox & the Orioles. His lifelong devotion, however, was to the New York Mets. Carl & Roberta were avid travelers and have visited every continent except Antarctica, some of them several times.
Carl is survived by his wife Roberta Benninghoff (Pedersen), with whom he recently celebrated 60 years of marriage. He is also survived by siblings Verna Hansen, Janis Dmytriw and Robert Benninghoff, daughters and sons-in-law Jayne and David Henderson, Debra and John Prestifilippo and Alyson and Douglas Craig. He was fondly known as “Poppy” to his eight grandchildren. Mr. Benninghoff is preceded in death by his sister Jean Dickson.
Services will be held on Saturday, March 25th at 1pm at The Church of the Palms, 3224 Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota. In lieu of flowers, Roberta prefers that you honor Carl with kindness to others. If you feel you would like to make a donation, a suggestion would be www.friendsforhealthinhaiti.org.
