Dear Lake Eustis Sailing Club member

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Ted Benedict our LESC Wayfarer sailor who passed away Monday evening.

From Mike and Dotty Murto, which I believe reflects the thoughts of all of us:  

Ted has been a member for 13 years and will be missed dearly. He was a good friend to all of us, he could be counted on whenever you needed help. He was a joy on the water and off, being a fair competitor and a gracious winner. 

Fair Sailing Ted, you will always be with us.

From: Al Schonborn <uncle-al3854@cogeco.ca>
Date: 11/13/2013 8:31 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: Dotty and Mike Murto
Subject: Ted Benedict

"He just loved the world," said daughter Carol Deane B. Mitnick of McLean, Va.

Benedict died Monday, a week after a cardiac arrest. He was 69. Born in Key West, Benedict grew up in New Canaan, Conn. A gifted long-distance runner at New Canaan High School, Benedict, who was also class president, went on to attend the University of Michigan on a cross-country and track scholarship. He studied philosophy, which younger brother Charles Benedict called fitting because it's the "adventure of the mind".

After graduating, Benedict joined the Peace Corps, hoping to see places different from what he was accustomed to in the U.S. He landed in western Nepal, where he helped design and build roads. While there, Benedict learned Nepalese and took up photography. He also learned Japanese, Indonesian and Hindi. So in awe with the land and the people of Nepal, Benedict convinced his brother Charles Benedict to join him on a later trip. More than 40 years later, Charles, of Beloit, Wis., can still recall a rafting excursion that took the brothers to a waterway few Westerners had ever been. "It was not a good idea to go down that river," Charles said.

While traveling Asia and Europe in the late 1960s, Benedict stopped in Istanbul, Turkey, where he met Marjorie Smith. She offered him some bread and honey she had purchased in Greece. "When he stopped eating, he fell madly in love," Marjorie said. The two didn't reconnect until several years later. While in Atlanta, they shared a pizza on their first date and later married in New Orleans in 1976. The couple went on to have four children. The adventures didn't stop for the newlyweds. The couple moved to Indonesia, where Benedict taught English.

In 1981, Benedict and his wife moved to Central Florida when he took a position with Lockheed Martin. Benedict chose to settle in Mount Dora because "it reminded him of New Canaan," his wife said. The area's lakes allowed Benedict to take up sailing. Over time, Benedict, who was a member of the Lake Eustis Sailing Club, amassed a collection of boats and often raced on the weekend. But his wife said he wasn't about winning, though he often placed in local regattas.

The Benedict family, including Benedict's 93-year-old father, Bill of Chapel Hill, N.C, traveled to Alaska in 2011. The following year, Benedict, his wife and his father toured the Great Lakes, stopping at lighthouses and breweries along the way. "He wanted my grandfather to have an adventure as well," Mitnick said.

In addition to his wife, daughter, father and brother, Benedict is survived by his sons T. Robert Benedict, Daniel Benedict and Andrew Benedict, all of Mount Dora; brother John Benedict of Canton, Mass.; sister Laura Benedict Jr. of Durham, N.C.; and one granddaughter.

Allen Harden Funeral Home, Mount Dora, is handling arrangements.