Benjamin Brinton Obituary

BRINTON, Benjamin Harrison Jr., age 91, slipped away on August 26, 2009. He was born in Oil City, Pa., where his great-grandfather, Karl August Morck, settled from Germany. Karl Morck Jr., Ben's paternal grandfather, was a jeweler and inventor of a practical bifocal lens. His oldest daughter was Ben's mother who married Benjamin H. Brinton. Ben Sr. started a brokerage firm in New York City and served as treasurer of the New York Stock Exchange from 1935 until 1940. Ben Jr. is survived by his wife of 45 years, Virginia Clarke White Brinton; his younger brother, William Morck Brinton and wife, Mary Jane Wyman Brinton; and many nieces and nephews. Ben graduated from Choate School and Yale University and studied French in Paris at the Sorbonne. He attended the Moral Re-Armament conference in Caux-sur-Montreux, Switzerland in the early 50s where his life was transformed morally and spiritually. He accompanied Dr. Frank Buchman, founder of MRA, now called Initiatives of Change, and 200 others to Asia. They performed five plays that encouraged democracy: first in India, then in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Ben and Virginia were married in 1964, and he obtained his Master's degree in French at the University of Virginia and taught at Patrick Henry College in Martinsville, Va. and for five years in the U.K. He worked again for Moral Re-Armament (IofC) when he and Virginia returned to Richmond by distributing MRA publications, which became Grosvenor Books, USA, under the leadership of J. Terence Blair. He taught English as a second language in the Richmond Public Schools. Ben and Virginia moved to Lakewood Manor 10 years ago. While living there, he read stories to a second grade class at Ruby Carver Elementary School. Ben greatly enjoyed his many hobbies: tennis, swimming, chess, and playing his harmonica. He was a member of St. Matthews Episcopal Church, singing tenor in the choir and active in the TGIF Friday breakfasts. He was a past member of the Kiwanis Club and the Order of St. Luke, a healing order through prayer. Ben's chief aim in life was to be a peacemaker personally and globally. When someone recently asked him what he was living for, he said that he wanted to build a peaceful world. A memorial service will be held at St. Matthews Church on Wednesday, September 2 at 11 a.m. Private interment at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 1101 Forest Avenue, Richmond, Va. 23229, or to Initiatives of Change, 2201 West Broad Street, Suite 200, Richmond, Va. 23220.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.