Hazel Benton

Hazel Flythe Benton was born on December 15, 1926, in Sylvania, Georgia, to James W. and Mary Ella Davis Flythe. She grew up in Screven County alongside her sisters Gladysteen and Jimmie Ella and her brothers Beau and Grady. One brother, Maurice, died at birth. After graduating with honors from Screven County High School, Hazel attended McBride Methodist Church. Following her mother’s death when she was sixteen, she moved with her father and brother Grady to Savannah, where her father opened a grocery store. She studied at Draughn’s Business College, where she met her future husband, Andrew “Andy” W. Benton. They married in January 1948.

Hazel joined her husband’s church, the Lutheran Church of the Ascension, becoming a member in May 1950. She remained a devoted and active member for the rest of her life, serving as a member of the Helen Shirk Circle, Directoress of the Altar Guild, and on nomination and call committees. She taught Sunday School and Vacation Church School and, in 1973, helped form a Social Outreach Committee that partnered with DFACS and Emmaus House to provide school clothes, shoes, food security, and other essential support to families in need. This pioneering ministry continues at Ascension to this day. Hazel also enjoyed cooking church meals for many years alongside her friends Joan Johnson, Peggy Outz, and Kitty Stelljes. She was named Ascension’s Bold Woman of Faith by the church’s WELCA.

She worked happily alongside her husband Andy in his law practice in the American Building at Drayton and Bay Streets in Savannah. Above all, Hazel loved God and her family. She delighted in her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and cherished the many hours she and Andy spent at their cottage on Tybee Island, even in winter.

Hazel Flythe Benton passed away on March 16, 2026. She is survived by her sons Newell and his wife Glenda, and Wayne and his wife Andrea; her grandchildren Susan, Laura, Mary and her husband Jon, Andrew and his wife Summer; and her great-grandchildren Harmon, Garrett, Jackson, Hannah, William, Charlotte, Joseph, Ella, Banks, Smith, and Lottie.