Early morning, Thursday, August 26, 2021, Donnell William Benson, loving husband, brother, and father to eight children, passed away at the age of 72.

Donnell was born on May 3, 1949, in Newark, New Jersey to William and Mildred (Gibson) Benson. His father was an entrepreneur, and his mother was a beautician and owned her own beauty salon. He grew up in Newark, attending grade school and graduating from Weequahic High School in 1966. In September 1966, he married his childhood sweetheart Evelyn Cooper. They raised three daughters, Sonia, Keisha, and Tracey, and two sons, Davon and Donnell.

In 1985, he met and married Barbara Jean Dennard, and on March 5, 1994, he married Cynthia Wright and became stepfather to four additional children, two daughters, Unique and Eurika and two sons, Gregory and Willie.

Donnell had a deep passion for music and loved all things jazz, blues, and gospel. He also loved design and construction and worked as an architect designing ships for the Navy and owned his own home renovation company drawing up the blueprints for a client’s new addition onto their home and then managing a team to get the job done. He loved fishing, reading, and studying and prided himself in his knowledge of the Hebrew language. But above all of that, he loved the Lord and loved sharing the Word with everyone he could. He worked diligently in ministry, meeting the demands and needs of the Kingdom of God through teaching, sharing, and helping others. He was ordained at Evangel Temple in Washington DC on August 25, 1984, and then went on to found two churches, Inspired Ministries Christian Center in that same year and Envelop Ministries in 1998. He also developed an extensive ministry online, going live daily on Facebook ministering to devoted followers from all over the world. During the last few years of his life, he was a member of Heavens Gate CME Church under the leadership of Pastor Linda Faye Provitt.

Donnell was preceded in death by his father, William, his mother, Mildred, his first-born son, Davon, and his sister, Pastor Yvonne Gibson. He is survived by his wife Cynthia, his eight children, Sonia Benson, Keisha Benson (children Shewana and Giana, grandchild Saniyah), Donnell J. Benson (children Tyree and Saniyah), Tracey Benson (child Lyriq), Unique Savage (children Bobby, Kiara, Jordan, Jaden, and Micah), Eurika Grubbs (husband Mike, children Michael, Jared, Jayda, Dorian, Joshua, Isaiah, Benjamin, and Noah), Gregory Isaac (children Gregory, Dezmond, and Ta'Liyah) and Willie Isaac (wife Lisa, children Skylar and Dominic), his sister Annette Benson, his brothers, Nathan Benson and Nathaniel Benson, and lots of cousins, nieces, and nephews.

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