Stuart Lynn Benting

Stuart Lynn Benting, 69, of Las Cruces, New Mexico passed away on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at Haciendas at Grace Village Assisted Living Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Stuart was born on December 30, 1952 to Paul and Hildur Benting in Wahoo, Nebraska. Stuart and family moved to Las Cruces when he was three years old. He graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1971 and, later, from Colorado State University with his BS in Forestry.

Stuart loved the outdoors. He worked ski patrol in Colorado while in college. He married his childhood friend, Karen Leitko, in August of 1979. They had two children, Tyler and Chelsea. He enjoyed hiking, camping, and playing cards or dice games with friends. He became very involved with the Boy Scouts with his son Tyler and became a Scout Master. His passion was backpacking with the Scouts. He was trained in Leave No Trace and enjoyed passing the knowledge on to the boys. He stayed in Scouts with Tyler until he was very proud to see his son earn his Eagle Badge.

Stuart did construction work for most of his career. He worked as a finish carpenter for many years. He also owned Benting Construction where he made custom built cabinets. It gave him a great pleasure to show his daughter Chelsea how to use a drill and share a few tricks of his trade. Stuart made a major career change in 2004 when he enrolled at New Mexico State University to work on his alternative licensure to become a special education teacher. He completed the last 13 years of his career working at Sierra Middle School as a special education teacher.

Stuart is survived by his wife Karen of Las Cruces and his son Tyler, his wife Cindy and grandsons, Noah and Emmett, of Deming, New Mexico. He is also survived by his brothers Allan (Sherry) of Las Cruces and Larry of Mississippi, and sister-in-law Sharon (Ralph) of Texas. Additional survivors include nieces Kimmy (Barry) of Mississippi, Alana of Arizona, and Jennifer (Mike) of the UK, and nephews Michael (Diane) of Texas and Ian (Meredith) of Kentucky.

Stuart is preceded in death by his daughter Chelsea Lyn Benting and his parents Paul and Hildur Benting.

A memorial service will be on Saturday, December 10, 2022 at Getz Funeral Home Chapel at 10:00 am. A Celebration of Life reception will be held immediately following the service.

A very special thank you to all the nurses and caregivers at Haciendas at Grace Village. Your care and compassion for Stuart is greatly appreciated.