Benny Herndon Conn

Benny Herndon Conn passed away peacefully in the early hours of May 27th with her daughter Margaret Conlan Aunon and granddaughter, Melissa Aunon in attendance. Benny had just marked her 95th birthday on May 10th. She was born to the late Benjamin and Gertrude Sayles Herndon in Chase City, Virginia, and was their third child. She was preceded in death by both of her husbands as well as her two older sisters, Anna Herndon Newby and Mary Logan Smith. Benny will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Her bright smile and cheerful disposition made her a joy to be around. She moved from Virginia to Fort Collins in April 2001 to be closer to her only child, Margaret, and resided for ten active and happy years at Worthington Independent Living. Health issues caused Benny to move to Columbine West Healthcare in 2011, where all the nurses, aides, and staff loved her happy disposition. After Benny was graduated from Chase City High School in June 1938, she attended secretarial school in Richmond, Virginia and was employed as a secretary at Rich Equipment Company located in Virginia's capital city. She met and married John Patrick Conlan in October 1942 and moved to New York City where he resided. They had one child, Margaret Conlan, but were divorced three years later. Benny returned to Richmond, Virginia, with her daughter. As a member of the Greatest Generation, Benny did not lack for courage and determination. She applied for and passed the merit and skills examination for employment in the Federal Civil Service, even though it would mean she had to leave all her friends and family in Richmond and Chase City, Virginia. She was a single, divorced, working mother in the "Ozzie and Harriet" world of the late 1940's and 1950's. Civil Service positions offered better salaries as well as health care, and she was supporting herself and her daughter all on her own. In 1949 Benny and her young daughter moved to Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. when she was hired by the Military Sea Transportation Service of the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Ships in the Defense Department. She resided happily in that home until she found love again later in life. She married fellow neighbor and widower Stetson Conn in 1972. Benny and Stetson enjoyed thirteen wonderful and happy years together until his death in 1985. They traveled all over the United States and many foreign countries as well as visiting their many grandchildren who are scattered around the country. Benny also leaves behind her daughter Margaret's children---Christine Zanellato, Melissa Aunon, Serena Aunon, and Maria Aunon as well as Stetson's two daughters, Judy Lokerson and Margie Annis, and their children---Will Buehler, Kathy Buehler, Sarah Buehler, Susan Lokerson, and Mary Lokerson Rusten. She adored all her grandchildren. Benny was a devout and lifelong Episcopalian and attended St. Luke's Episcopal Church while living in Fort Collins. A Memorial Service will be held later this summer at the Rock Creek Chapel, Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. where the majority of Benny's family and family friends reside. Benny will be laid to rest beside her late husband, Stetson in the beautiful and tranquil Rock Creek Cemetery.

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Benny Herndon Conn

May 10, 1920 - May 27, 2015