Jack Luther Benham
Marriages
Sarah Emily Ralston - July 3, 1948
in Mattoon, Illinois
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3D Obituary - April 30, 2017
On April 17, 2017, Jack Luther Benham passed away after his
battle with pneumonia.
Jack L. Benham was born on January 17, 1926, in Mount Carmel,
Illinois to Beryl and Nina Belle Benham. He graduated
from Mattoon High School in 1944 and enlisted in the US Merchant
Marines. Later, he enlisted in the US Navy where he was
a Gunners Mate on the USS Lunga Point.
He married Sarah Emily Ralston in Mattoon, Illinois on July 3,
1948 and attended college at Fort Lewis, University of Colorado,
Colorado A & M, and University of Idaho where he received
his Bachelors Degree in Geology in 1953.
Jack worked as a Geologist in the Uravan Mineral Belt of Western
Colorado for Great Frontier Mining, Vanadium Corporation
of America, Union Carbide, and as a geologic consultant.
Jack and his family moved to Grand Junction in 1953. In 1956
he and his family moved to Naturita. In 1959, he moved the family
to San Mateo, California and three years later, moved to Billings,
Montana. In 1966, he and his family returned to Grand
Junction.
In 1974 Jack and Sarah opened the Bear Creek Store in Ouray,
Colorado where Jack pursued his geologic consulting, San Juan
mining history interests, and published several books on of the
San Juan area and its mining history. Jack and Sarah retired to
Montrose, Colorado in 1996.
Jack is survived by his brothers, Blake of Pensylvania, and
Benny of Durango, Colorado; two sons: Dirk of St. Louis, Missouri,
and Kim of Loma, Colorado; two grandchildren, and four
great-grandchildren.
Memorial services for Jack Luther Benham will be held at
6:00 p.m. on May 12th at Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in
Montrose, Colorado.
