William David Benevich, Sr. was born May 6, 1921 and passed away March 23, 2013 at the young age of 91. He was a native of Santa Clara and resided in Lucerne, CA. He is survived by his Wife of 29 years, Donna Benevich; Son, William D. Benevich, Jr.; Daughter, Keri Lynn Baughman; Grandchildren: Cynthia Del Castillo, Casey Jean Vorwaller, Misty Dawn Benevich Daries, Cheyenne Desiree Benevich Daries, Kristin Renee Terry Henry, Destiny Dawn Benevich, Zack Benevich, Tamu Baker and Weston Baughman; Great Grandchildren: Travis Benevich, Gregory Gallian, Michael Long, Kennedy Vorwaller, Aliyah Baker, Maxwell Del Castillo, Easton Henry; Great-Great Grandchildren: Carter Nuttall, Kai’laya Benevich and Khalia Peyton Hemphill; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his Brothers, Eddie and Arthur, and Sisters, Hilda Benevich and Thelma Moyano and his Mother and Father, Manuel & Minnie, his adopted son, Richard Sykes Benevich and the Mother of his children, Consuelo (Connie) Marie Costello.
Bill was born in Santa Clara, CA. He attended St. Claire’s Catholic School, Santa Clara High School and Santa Clara University. In his youth he loved and played baseball for the Santa Clara Colts, Falstaff, Rodeo Buffet, Tuscon Cowboys, Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers. His baseball career was interrupted by World War II where he served as a Military Policeman with the 747 Military Police Battalion, in the American and African Theatres of Operations.
He worked as a Carpenter, Foreman and Supervisor for two construction companies and as a Building Inspector for the City of Santa Clara. He was the second employee hired by the City of Cupertino in 1959 and was the Chief Building Inspector there until 1971. He was also Chief Building Inspector for the City of Daly City and had also worked as a Building Inspector for the cities of San Jose, Fremont, San Bruno, Hillsborough, and Clearlake. Bill loved motorcycles, trains and camping.
He enjoyed riding with his friends in the group, Wings and Things—mostly Honda Goldwings and other bikes traveling to Colorado, Carlsbad Caverns, the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. He had his Goldwing triked so he could continue riding as he got older and was awarded a plaque for being the oldest triker at the Triker Western Rendezvous in Laughlin, NV—he was 85! He proudly rode his Honda amongst his daughter, Keri’s, Harley Davidson Owners Group in Santa Cruz and around Clearlake. He loved to ride trains as well as build his own model railroad layouts.
He rode Cal Train daily to work, took two train trips to Chicago as well as riding many tourist trains—Skunk train, Roaring Camp, Durango & Silverton, Cumbres and Toltec, British Columbia, Ely’s Ghost train and drove an engine in Portola. He and friends built an HO layout in his basement in Santa Clara and he rebuilt it and expanded it to include his larger O gauge engines when he moved to Lucerne. He enjoyed camping trips with the Santa Clara Elks and Lakeport Elks.
Memorial Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 17, 2013 at Lima Family Santa Clara Mortuary, 466 N. Winchester Blvd., Santa Clara and final resting place at Mission City Memorial Park, 420 N. Winchester Blvd., Santa Clara. Please share your memories by signing the guest book at www.limafamilysantaclara.com
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