John Mitchell Benton (October 1, 1954–August 22, 2025)

John Benton, 70, lost his valiant battle with cancer on August 22 at home in Plymouth, MA, in the loving presence of his wife and daughter. His family takes comfort in knowing that he is pain-free and with his beloved son and that they are laughing together as they watch over and play jokes on everyone they care about.

Born in Maryland, John grew up in various towns in the northeastern U.S. as well as Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, VI, where he graduated from Antilles High School as class president. After earning a BA from Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY, he moved to Chicago and received an MBA from Northwestern University.

His career as a computer specialist began at the telecommunications company Centel, where he went on to serve as the IT Director of Centel Cable Company, and subsequently built his own successful businesses, B&B Computing and Orion Systems.

John married his adored wife (whom he viewed as “both fascinating and terrifying” when they met), and they raised their two children together for 20 years in the Chicago area before moving to Plymouth, MA, where he worked for nearly 10 years as a Senior Consultant for Insight Enterprises, Inc.

An avid learner starting in childhood, John went to great lengths to decode the mysteries of anything new—from taking things apart (his parents’ stereo system) to repurposing them (his parents’ bedroom furniture, rearranged on the front lawn to create an impromptu acrobatic gym) to breaking inconvenient laws (taking the car out at age 14 after his parents were asleep to teach himself to drive; getting into the custodians’ closet in his elementary school and exploring how the power worked, to the dismay of teachers who wondered why the lights were going on and off in their classrooms). As a young teen in Puerto Rico, John began combining his knowledge with his entrepreneurial nature and converted the home intercom system into a neighborhood radio station. As a young adult, he kept his back to the room to focus on his first computer, a TRS-80, late into the night, despite the loud, crowded party going on behind him.

John loved travel and adventure, particularly outdoor recreation, from skiing to body surfing, sailing, and hikes through the woods and on the beach with the family’s many cherished golden retrievers and labs. Although he relished speed when he was having fun, he always started at the beginning (“First, there was the atom…”) when answering a question about something technological or even mechanical, giving rise to the term “johnsplaining.”

John is survived by his wife of 32 years, Colleen (Maher); his daughter (his “little girl with an attitude”), Bailey; his mother, Joan; three brothers—Mike (Chris), Joel (Gail), and Tom (Kim)—his faithful companions Sammie and Goose, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. He is predeceased by his son, Ryan Christopher, lost too soon and loved by so many; his father, Robert F. Benton; and his brother Steve.

John will be sorely missed for his gentle smile, his undying love and protection of everyone he cared for, his relentless dad jokes, his eagerness to help with any task that needed to be done at any moment, and his persistence in building knowledge and skill at work and elsewhere. But perhaps most of all for his kindness. Many who knew him have said that they never heard him say a bad word about anyone. That may explain why he was characteristically quiet. But, as Mark Twain once said, “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see"; John’s kindness will be heard forever.

A private celebration of John’s life will be held for the immediate family. Donations in his name may be made to the Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research at Massachusetts General Hospital: https://giving.massgeneral.or….

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