Step into a Publix supermarket and it likely was built by Benning Construction Company. The Atlanta firm has constructed nearly 180 of these stores that blanket the city and Southeast.
In 1953, T.R. Benning Jr. and his father T.R. Benning Sr. founded the company, which is currently run by T.R. "Ted" Benning III, and is an employer of nearly 100 people.
T.R. Benning Jr. held various company posts and remained board chairman in retirement. The businessman had a reputation for treating people fair and honest, which was the way he wanted to be treated.
"He believed in fair contracts and honest dealing," his son said. "He was a hard man but an honest man. I saw him many times walk away from the table on a deal that wouldn't have been fair. It takes a lot to do that."
Mr. Benning, a decorated World War II veteran, was a lung cancer survivor who periodically contracted pneumonia. He recently entered Piedmont Hospital with a collapsed lung, and died on Thursday surrounded by family. He was 89. The funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at H.M. Patterson & Son, Oglethorpe Hill chapel.
Mr. Benning was born in his great-grandfather's house on Whiteford Avenue. The North Fulton High School alumnus earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from Auburn University. A devoted Tigers fan, he still drove himself to home football games and had seats on the front row of the upper west deck.
"He loved his Auburn Tigers like no one else," his son said. "He was delighted when they won the national championship, to say the least."
In 1943, Mr. Benning was called to active duty and assigned as a commanding officer to the 254th Engineer Combat Battalion. He fought on the beaches of Normandy and was wounded in combat. He was a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Silver Star recipient.
He met Loretta Margaret Serey, an Army nurse, while hospitalized and married her. She died in 1990.
Mr. Benning received the Skill, Integrity and Responsibility Award from the Georgia branch of the Associated General Contractors of America, of which he was past president. His firm was a 2010 finalist for "Georgia Family Business of Year," awarded by Kennesaw State University.
"I think he would want people to remember him as a man of character, faith and integrity," his son said. "He acted the way he acted because of what he believed in."
Mr. Benning and his second wife, Maria Cabelleda Benning, were Thrashers season-ticket holders who often appeared on "Kiss Cam." The team noted his passing with a moment of silence at a recent game.
Other survivors are his daughters Margee Bright-Ragland of Auburn and Serey Andree of Decatur; sisters Gertrude Dackers of Houston and Margaret Stephener, Bertha Buffington and Louise Hall, all Atlantans; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
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