Alvin Stanley Benn

On October 10, 2023, Alvin Stanley Benn, a loving husband, father, and grandfather died at the age of 83.  Alvin was born on April 25, 1940, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  After graduating from Manheim Township High School in 1958, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps where he served his country for six years.  After graduating from basic training in Parris Island, South Carolina, Alvin was stationed at Cherry Point, NC with the Second Marine Air Wing and at Okinawa, Japan, where he worked for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.  After returning stateside, Alving completed military journalism school at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center and briefly attended East Carolina College while at Cherry Point.

After a blind date and a quick courtship, Alvin married Sharon Ann Boumel on December 27, 1964.  Sharon was the love of his life and constant companion.  Alvin and Sharon raised two children together, their daughter Danielle Waters of Mills River, NC and their son Eric Benn of El Paso, TX.  Alvin and Sharon were proud Zaide and Bubbie to four loving grandchildren; Benjamin Waters, Scott Waters, Alexandria Benn and Ilan Benn and loving in-laws to their son-in-law Curtis Waters and daughter-in-law Maria Benn.  
His long journey chronicling the history of Alabama began in 1964 as a newly minted correspondent for United Press International covering the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. Alvin not only interviewed the major leaders of both sides of this historic struggle--including Dr. Martin Luther King and Governor George C. Wallace--but he used his fearless quest of news to take him to some of the most unsettling venues to get the unvarnished true story.  After two and a half years as UPI's Birmingham bureau chief, Alvin took on the roles of writer, photographer, editor and publisher at newspapers in Birmingham, Alabama; Decatur, Alabama; Natchez, Mississippi; Alexander City, Alabama; Lafayette, Georgia and finally to Selma, Alabama, where he remained a resident for over 45 years.  While working at the Natchez Democrat in Natchez, Mississippi, Alvin and his news staff were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.  Alvin was known to write three to four stories per day during his 50 plus year journalism career.  Although he officially retired in 2003, Al Benn continued to write his widely read column, ``Al Benn's Alabama'', for the Montgomery Advertiser.  Alvin once said, “Journalistic integrity cannot be duplicated. That's all reporters really have.  We never make much money.  What we can leave behind is a good name in our chosen profession.  I hope I've done just that.  There are those who will disagree but I've tried to be as fair as I could be.''

Alvin was a man of great loves. He loved his family and friends, his religion, the United States Marine Corp, and most of all his job. He dedicated his entire adult life to reporting the news, good and bad. From covering the civil rights movement in the 1960's, to being nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, to interviewing presidents, to covering the day to day life in the south, to writing a book “Reporter: Covering the Civil Rights…..And Wrongs in Dixie”, he loved nothing more than the State of Alabama and especially his hometown, Selma.

Alving was a member of Mishkan Israel Congregation in Selma, Alabama and Temple Beth Or in Montgomery, Alabama. 

Funeral services will be Friday, October 20, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. in the chapel of Lawrence Brown-Service Funeral Home with Rabbi Scott Looper officiating. Interment will follow at Live Oak Cemetery with full military honors, rendered by the United States Marine Corps. The family will receive friends Thursday evening at the funeral home from 5:00  - 7:00 p.m.

The service will be streamed live on the funeral home's Facebook page by clicking here. You can access the video stream, beginning at 9:45 a.m. You will not be able to see it or join before 9:45 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Magen David Adom, 20 W. 36th Street, Suite 1100, New York, NY 10018; Tender Care Home Health and Hospice, 6400 Escondido DR El Paso, TX 79912 or your favorite charity for dementia.