Benda, Dennis James
BENDA-Dennis James Benda, was born October 24, 1944 and died June 7, 2008. After his father passed away at an early age, he was raised by his beloved and remarkable mother, Eleanor. A botany class in high school sparked an interest in horticulturefor Dennis. This interest became a passion leading to a career growing and distributing plants, and caring for trees. In his 20’s he became the arborist at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, and at times gave demonstrations on pruning and tree care. He enjoyed pruning the fabulous collection of trees at the Huntington which included his favorite tree, the Arbutus that stands opposite the bottom of the Japanese Garden. In 1978 Dennis became a Greensman in the Movie Industry, creating environments with plants on a wide variety of shows. For five years he created the greens for Fantasy Island, always with an eye to enhancing the background that framed each unique scene. He became very close to Ricardo Montal ban, the crew, and the many guest stars who visited the island. In the Muppet Movie he went underwater to set up and manipulate the lily pads. Often while working, he had off-camera conversations with Kermit. In the Great Outdoors he spread redwood bark for his friend Bart the Bear to walk on and wired leaves on the trees so the setting looked like summer, not fall. He enjoyed building the forest for the TV special Alice in Wonderland.In North Carolina he was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider while filming The Last of the Mohicans! Wherever he worked, he always enjoyed keeping the morale of the crew high with plenty of laughter and joking. Upon retiring, Dennis received a certificate worded: “We thank you for your outstanding contributions of talent and professionalism to the Industry since 1978. Hopefully, we can all live up to the standards of excellence which you have set and maintained throughout your career as a-Greensman.” Dennis is survived by his brother, Richard, his first wife, Ruth Johnson, and h is second wife, Lisa Quinn, the mother of his sons Spencer and Shaun.
By legacy.com
