Tonya S Bennitt

Tonya Shipman Bennitt, 58, of Lakeway, Texas passed away on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at her residence. She will always be remembered as a loving wife, mother, and friend to all that knew and loved her.

She was born in Graham, Texas on November 23, 1956 to Alonzo Odell and Dixie Maberry Shipman. Tonya graduated from Graham High School and went on to receive a degree from the College of Media and Communications at Texas Tech University. After graduation, she moved to Dallas, where she worked in the advertising and interior design fields, joined the Junior League of Dallas, and met her husband, Ben Bennitt. In 1999, the family relocated to Lakeway, where she was involved in her children's numerous school activities, the Lakeway Chamber of Commerce, the Tri Delta Alumnae Association, and the Lakeway Panhellenic Society. Tonya was very talented, and loved to decorate her home and dine out with family and friends.

Survivors include her husband Benjamin Alexander Bennitt, Jr. of Lakeway; daughter Caroline Elizabeth Bennitt of Houston; son Benjamin Alexander Bennitt, III of Austin; sisters Melody Shipman Delong and Kimberly Shipman Dyess; aunts and uncles Betsy and Mitch Mitchell, Edna Marie and Smitty Maberry, and Carolyn Shipman; and numerous sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, cousins, nieces, nephews and loved ones.

To continue her legacy of giving to others, the family donated her tissues in her honor.

A private graveside service was held at Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas on November 1, 2015. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation at www.bbrfoundation.org.