Benson Smith Davison III, age 90, passed away peacefully on October 9, 2021.  Ben was born on September 12, 1931 to Benson Smith Davison Jr. and Ola Christine Miller in Houston, Texas.  Ben grew up on the San Bernard River and attended High School in West Columbia, Texas where he graduated in June of 1950.

Ben's interests were dancing, motor boating, and cars.  Ben and his best friend Wallace Hooker enlisted in the Navy in December of 1950, 2 days before Christmas, to avoid being drafted into the Army for the Korean War.  Ben served 3 years, 8 months, and 14 days in the Navy and was honorably discharged on 10/22/1954.  He was stationed aboard the USS YARNALL and the USS TINGY and served his country in both Korea and Hong Kong.   Ben received the National Defense Service Medal, The United Nations Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal (4 Stars), and the China Service Ribbon for his time in the Navy.

After the Navy, Ben and Wallace shared an apartment in Houston where he eventually met his future wife Pat.  Ben married Henrietta Patricia Cobb (Pat) on November 5th, 1960 in Houston, Texas.  Pat and Ben moved to New Braunfels, Texas in the 60's where Ben was part owner and worked as a mechanic in Walt and Ben's Brake Shop.  Pat and Ben soon bought a house on Lake McQueeney and when Pat became ill with Multiple Sclerosis, Ben built a shop at his house and started his own business, Ben Davison's Restorations, where he restored classic cars for a living.  Ben cared for Pat until her passing in 1993 at age 59.

Ben met Lilja Mitchell, his second love, in 1996 at the Roaring 20's Dance Club in San Antonio.  They enjoyed dancing, entertaining, and  traveling together.

Ben was preceded in death by his wife Pat, his parents, his sister Jean Adair Albrecht, his stepson Tyrus Dean Davison, and his second love Lilja Mitchell.

Ben is survived by his daughter, Coni Elise Reiland, her husband, Mike, and grandchildren Cade and Micayla Reiland - as well as his loving caregiver, Elsa Aguirre.

Stories of Ben:

The Yellow Peril

Ben's father owned a Ford Dealership and Ben had a yellow Model A in High School, which was famously nicknamed "The Yellow Peril".  Ben and his friends had many adventures in his car.  He told stories about how they used to let the air out of the tires and drive on the railroad tracks with his car.  On one of these adventures, the cops started chasing Ben and his friends on a street that ran parallel to the tracks.  They were eventually able to exit the tracks into a residential neighborhood where they found an empty garage and hid until the cops gave up.

Old Town Canoe

After the Navy, Ben bought a green Old Town canoe that he enjoyed canoeing on the San Bernard river and taking to the beach in Freeport to ride fearlessly into the waves.  He had the canoe on the dock at his lake house on Lake McQueeney when the lake flooded in 1972.  The canoe was taken in the flood.  However, several months later, he saw his loved canoe on the dock of another house on the same lake.  So one evening, by the light of the moon, Ben and his brother-in-law, who also owned a canoe, rowed over to the house on Lake McQueeney and reclaimed Ben's Old Town canoe.   Ben was so nervous that someone would come looking for the canoe, he put it up in the trusses of his garage for the next several months.

Ben was a kind, fun loving man and will be greatly missed.