Gary Duane Benfield was born August 5, 1948 in Alva, Oklahoma the son of James Grier and Ina Mae (Warren) Benfield. He completed this life of Sunday, September 3, 2017 in Oklahoma City at the age of 69.

Gary graduated high school at South Barber County High School in 1966 and received his Bachelors degree from Fort Hays State University, Fort Hays, Kansas. He retired as a sales representative for Sysco Foodservice of Oklahoma in 2014.

He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Shirleta: his sister, Gloria Wolf of Elk Falls, KS: his brother and sister-in-laws, Wynema New, Faye Ryder, Valois Shuler and Jerry Ryder all of Lawton, OK; A. J. Ryder of Cache, OK, Bobby Ryder of Wichita, KS, Sharon Phelps of Houston, TX and Sandy Hannington of Oklahoma City. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Gary found an appropriate way to unite his love of hiking, camping and photography and became an excellent landscape photographer in the process. His work has been displayed in various venues including the Wichita Mountains Visitors Center and Oklahoma Wildlife Magazine.

Gary was an avid pursuer of the "perfect bowl of chili", participating in multiple competitions and winning a fair share of them. Gary qualified and participated in two World Championship Chili Cook-offs.
Of all the places Gary and Shirleta traveled, Gary most loved New Mexico, the quaint little town of Chimayo held a special place in his heart.

Gary was a good brother, a good friend and husband and will be missed immensely.

Funeral service will be 10:00 am, Thursday, September 7th in the Vondel Smith Mortuary North Chapel, 13125 N. MacArthur Blvd. Burial will be at 2:30 pm in the Highland Cemetery in Lawton, OK.

The family requests that memorials be made to Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis Research, 825 NE 13th, Oklahoma City, OJK 73104. www.omrf.org.