Even though he would have preferred to die in a "blaze of glory" saving the life of another, Eugenio (Gino) Benevento died of cancer quietly at Glens Falls Hospital on Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.

Gino was born June 19, 1937, in Brooklyn and was the son of the late Charles and Mae (Walsh) Benevento. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was honorably discharged in 1957. After working at a brokerage firm and the post office in the city, he visited the Lake Luzerne area where he found his home. He moved here and never returned to Brooklyn. He tended bar at many different restaurants in the area and then spent 18 years working in the pharmacy at Glens Falls Hospital.

On Sept. 16, 1973, Gino married Lynn Gilbert, and they began a joyful life of love and friendship. They were blessed with two adventuresome sons, Michael and Giani.

Besides his wife and sons, Gino is survived by his in-laws: Madeline Gilbert, Vera Stetson and daughters Tonya and Nicole and their families, James D. Gilbert and his wife, Carol, and daughter Cristi, Walter Gilbert and his wife, Charlene, and daughter Rachel, Vicki Hedges and children Meredith, Katherine, Jack and Sarah, and many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Gino enjoyed life and had a great sense of humor, making people laugh even last week from his hospital bed. He was an avid hiker, spending as much time as possible in the woods. He climbed 41 of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks with his wife and sons. He loved watching old movies and cooking delectable meals. Gino loved the Adirondack Hot Air Balloon Festival and ran the Art Show there with Lynn. The rest of the year he enjoyed crewing and flying whenever he got the chance.  He coached Little League for several years, and enjoyed watching Mike and Giani play baseball and soccer through high school. He spent winters when the boys were young on cross-country skis and helping with the Bill Koch Ski League. He was so proud of his boys and loved to brag about their travels and adventures in the woods and guiding whitewater rafts.

In 1999, Gino and Lynn opened the Lynn Benevento Gallery in Lake Luzerne, where Gino worked on framing, created the window displays and did many things to keep it running. He enjoyed talking to people and made many new friends.

Even though Gino was small in stature he was a giant in spirit, the toughest guy any of us have ever seen. Fighting much more than his share of serious illnesses since 1989, he taught all of us to live life fully, not merely exist, in the face of adversity. He took each blow of sickness, adapted and fought his way back. He did a peritoneal dialysis exchange at the summit of a trail-less High Peak. He continued hiking in the mountains he loved with a body weakened by illness, climbing Cascade just last year. He went to the gallery each day as cancer took away all of his strength. Gino has gone to heaven where the Bible promises a new body free of sickness, but he has left an empty space where he used to walk and a cavernous hole in our hearts.

Friends may call Monday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Brewer Funeral Home, Inc., 24 Church St., Lake Luzerne.

A Funeral Service will be conducted 10 a.m., Tuesday, at the funeral home with the Rev. Charles Gaffigan, pastor of Church of the Holy Infancy, officiating.

Burial will follow in Luzerne Cemetery.