James Joseph Benedict's Obituary
James (Jim) Joseph Benedict II, 61, died in his home on March 5, 2017. Jim was born on July 6, 1955 in Peru, Indiana to James and Annalee Benedict. Jim graduated from Oak Hill High School in Converse, Indiana in 1974. He attended Arizona State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1978. On April 4, 1981, he married his wife Marla Edstrom while working at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, California. They promptly moved and settled in Verdigris, Oklahoma. He worked at McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell, and Preston-Eastin all of Tulsa. He was also a former treasurer of the Claremore Seventh Day Adventist Church and a former volunteer firefighter with the Verdigris Fire Department. Jim was a kind, friendly, humble, funny man who loved his family and the Lord more than anything else. Time spent with his grandchildren is what he cherished most, along with eating dessert. Jim was able to put a smile on anyone’s face. Jim will be dearly missed and his death leaves a void in our hearts that can’t be filled. Jim was preceded in death by his father James and a brother Joe Benedict. Survivors include his wife Marla Benedict, daughter Lana Dipman and husband Brant in Claremore, his mother Annalee Benedict, four grand-daughters, Makenzie, Brenna, Avery, Jade, one brother-in-law, Gary Edstrom and a son. Memorial services will be at the Claremore Seventh Day Adventist Church in Claremore, at 3:30 on Sunday, March 12. Jim will be cremated and laid to rest at Floral Haven Cemetery, Broken Arrow, OK. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the Claremore SDA food pantry.
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