Richard J. BENOIT

Richard J. Benoit -- July 10, 1922 - February 3, 2005 -- WESTERLY, RI- Richard Joseph Benoit of 162 Beach Street in Westerly, RI, died February 3, 2005 at the Westerly Hospital. He was 82.Born July 10, 1922, in Chicopee Falls, MA, to George N Benoit and Frances (Krukowski) Benoit, he graduated from Springfield Classical High School then served with the US armed forces in France during World War II. In 1948 he graduated from Yale University, going on to earn a PhD in Zoology from Yale in 1953.Dr. Benoit served on the faculty of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN. In 1959 he returned to New England and worked in research and development at General Dynamics in Groton. In 1971, he left General Dynamics to establish EcoScience Laboratory, an environmental consulting company, and to serve as a founding faculty member of Mohegan Community College, now Three Rivers, in Norwich, CT. He served as an advisor to the Long Island Sound Study and on the board of the Connecticut Lung Association. He is past president of the Literacy Volunteers of Washington County. Although he retired from Mohegan in 1985, he remained active as a consultant in water pollution control, land use planning, and lake management. He advised the Westerly Water Department on drinking water quality from 1974 until 2001.In 1945, he married Gertrude Langheld of Springfield, MA, who predeceased him in 2003. He is survived by a brother, George Benoit of Grantham, NH, and three sisters, Pauline Peters of Florida, Frances Ruhl of Harrisburg, PA, and Mary Osterneck of Philadelphia; by six children, Lennie, Cordalie, Hannah, Gaboury, Anthony, and Janina; and by five grandchildren, Charlotte Eliscu, Mischa and Emma BenoitLavelle, and Cole and Eloise Benoit.A memorial service will be held at 4 pm on Wednesday, February 9th, at the Westerly Yacht Club, 1 Watch Hill Road in Westerly. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Literacy Volunteers of Washington County, 44 Broad Street, Westerly, RI, 02891.