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Louis C. Benton

Born on 5-15-1946. He was born in Bainbridge, GA. He was accomplished in the area of Education. He later died on 11-2-2012.
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Louis C. Benton was a pioneering African-American member of the Buffalo School Board.

Mr. Benton was born in Bainbridge, Ga. His family moved to Buffalo in 1956, when he was 10 years old.

He graduated from East High School and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Morgan State College and a master's degree in social work from the University at Buffalo. While a student at UB, Mr. Benton earned the A.W. Swanson Award for demonstrating "integrity, respect for the dignity of man and keen sensitivity." In 1997, he earned a masterÃ?Æ?Ã?â??Ã?â? ââ?¬â?¢Ã?Æ?ââ?¬?Ã?â??Ã?¢Ã?Æ?Ã?â??Ã?â??Ã?¢Ã?Æ?Ã?¢Ã?¢ââ?¬?Ã?¬Ã?â?¦Ã?¡Ã?Æ?ââ?¬?Ã?â??Ã?¬Ã?Æ?Ã?â??Ã?â??Ã?¢Ã?Æ?Ã?¢Ã?¢ââ?¬?Ã?¬Ã?â?¦Ã?¾Ã?Æ?ââ?¬?Ã?â??Ã?¢s degree in educational administration from Canisius College.

Mr. Benton served in the Army Reserve, retiring as a captain. In the early 1970s, Mr. Benton was a school social worker in the Buffalo Public Schools. In 1974, by then a youth counselor with the state Division for Youth, he was elected to a three-year term on the Buffalo Board of Education from the Ferry District. During his campaign, Mr. Benton said that schools had to be more open to the involvement of parents, who he said were often "humiliated" by contact with school personnel.

He was re-elected in 1977 but resigned in 1978, saying that a promotion to district supervisor for the state Division for Youth required extensive travel and left too little time to devote to School Board business.

Mr. Benton later returned to work with the school district. He was assistant principal at School 45 and principal of Broadway Village Elementary School 57 and later Hillery Park Academy School 27. He retired in 2006.

Mr. Benton also was a Freemason and a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He was an ordained deacon of Calvary Baptist Church.

In 1974, he married Carolyn Coles. The couple has a son, Louis Coles Benton II and a daughter, Taheera Nicole Coles Benton. Mr. Benton also had four sisters, Mary Benton, Esther Davis, Ruth Stuckey and Barbara Benton.