Published:
Sunday,
September
28, 2008

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.