Rex Anthony Benham, Jr., was born December 20, 1933 in Pueblo area of Colorado, to Rex Benham and Madeline Cook. He died Jan. 4, 2026, at the age of
As a child his family moved to the Watts area of Los Angeles, Calif. As a teenager he sold newspapers. His mother wanted him to have an appreciation for the arts and got him a job as opera house usher. He graduated from Dorsey High School where he played varsity football and the cello. He graduated from UCLA in political science. He was drafted into the Army at the end of the Korean War. He then got a graduate degree in Anthropology. He became editor for Brown & Brown and established his own business, Heritage Book Company, where his book stores were in various state colleges in the Los Angeles area. He was active in the civil rights movement, supporting Dr. Martin Luther King. During the Watts’ riots, the black community protected his book store.
He married Ann Stewart in 1961 and was immediate father of three step-children, Shane, Cynthia, and Chris Stewart, ages 3-7. They then had sons, Wynston and Jason. They moved to Canton, N.Y., where he worked for St. Lawrence University. They then moved to a Madison County, Ark., farm where they were part of the “back to the land movement” for two years, where they attempted to live off gardening and raising chickens and cattle. The next move was to Fayetteville, where he became an insurance salesman, bought several commercial properties, and established Ozark Bazaars in Fayetteville and Oklahoma City (consignment stores where War Eagle artisans had places to sell their wares year-round). He loved sports and was coach for a girls’ softball team and enjoyed playing basketball at noon with friends.
After Ann died, he met Gwen Wilson Young at a state racquetball tournament, and they married in 1984.
He bought apartments in Little Rock. On weekends Rex and Gwen traveled throughout the country to racquetball tournaments. They became directors for the Arkansas Racquetball Association, planning and organizing tournaments throughout Arkansas. Rex also gave private racquetball lessons. He began working with athletic clubs in Benton, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Fayetteville, and Tulsa to help them update their clubs and increase membership. He even filled in when one club lost their restaurant chef and catered for one of their annual parties. Gwen was oncology supervisor at Baptist Medical Center, and Rex enjoyed entertaining at parties for patients’ families. Rex and Gwen loved contemporary houses and bought a house in the woods in rural Little Rock, then later moved to a house on the Arkansas River. He enjoyed amateur sailing, which ended when his sailboat sunk to the bottom of Lake Maumelle.
Eventually Rex’s entrepreneurial spirit landed him at a blueberry farm off of the Pig Trail in Northwest Arkansas where he and Gwen established a bed and breakfast, Spirit Mountain, where original log cabins, lodge, old farmhouses and barns were converted into lodging facilities. The 400-acre farm was next to the Ozark National Forest with beautiful waterfalls, pastures, mountains, hiking trails, and peaceful spirit. He bought several horses and a donkey as well as cattle to try his hand at raising cattle again but this time with the help of a local farmer.
After five years, they sold Spirit Mountain and moved to Fayetteville where Rex bought and managed a total of five commercial office buildings in Northwest Arkansas. During the 2008 economic crisis, many of his tenants were forced to downsize, so he created small offices for tenants who had lost their jobs and/or wanted to start their own business. He prided himself in knowing his tenants personally and giving tenants opportunities to grow, some eventually buying their own buildings. Rex also worked as a Hospice volunteer.
Rex was an athlete most of his life, stayed active in racquetball for years and routinely worked out at a gym until five weeks before his 92nd birthday. Rex didn’t mind taking a risk with new ventures and adventures, usually being successful. He was a beautiful singer; avid lover of books, chess, music, art; talented unpublished writer of prose and poetry. He had an excellent sense of humor. He loved nature, especially the ocean, lakes, rivers, birds, deer, woods, and his backyard waterfall/pond.
Rex is survived by his wife Gwen; sons Wynston (Beth) Benham and Jason (Pam) Benham; daughters Cynthia (Max) Parker and Chris Plemmons; grandchildren Kate (Timmy) Stoner, Sam (Grace) Parker, Pat Benham, Sarah (Clay) Winkelman, Kristi Ramos, and Shaylee Frears; great-grandchildren Jackson and Avery Priesmeyer and Penny Parker; and loyal poodle companion Sassifras.
Rex is preceded in death by his parents; wife Ann; son Shane; and grandson Ian Plemmons.
Memorials may be donated to Circle of Life Hospice.
Services will be February 1, 2026 (time to be announced) at Mount Sequoyah.