Peter Benesh, 1916-2006 

PETER BENESH, 1916-2006

Monroe businessman, community leader founded firm

MONROE, Mich. - Peter Benesh, a local business and community leader who founded a major design and manufacturing company, died of a stroke Aug. 17 in a hospital in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, where he was visiting a family member. He was 90.

A certified manufacturing engineer, Mr. Benesh founded and then owned and operated Benesh Corp. since its inception in 1943. It was originally called Benesh Tool and Manufacturing Company and was located in Melvindale, Mich. The company, which moved to Frenchtown Township in 1947, developed products for various industries, such as automotive and aircraft. During World War II, the company won U.S. defense contracts. After the war, it returned to peacetime products.

Mr. Benesh was particularly proud of his part in developing the Anatometer, a chiropractic diagnostic machine patented by Benesh Corp.

His name is memorialized by the Benesh Building in Monroe, which is the former Monroe Public Schools vocational building that the private company bought in 1985. The company restored it and later used it for commercial and industrial space. The Monroe historic district commission in 1997 recognized the 1920s building as a significant landmark.

The restoration of the building helped start the process of rejuvenation and restoration of downtown Monroe, which Mr. Benesh strongly supported, his daughter, Mary Ann Benesh, said. "It was important to him to become closely involved with all aspects of his local community, not just business, because he believed in the importance of being a citizen and making contributions to the community and the country," another daughter, Carolyn Benesh, said.

Mr. Benesh also was instrumental in the late 1940s in turning the former one-room Marron School in Frenchtown Township into a modern school. The school became part of the Monroe Public Schools system.

He also was a member of the Frenchtown Township zoning board of appeals in the 1950s. A native of Toledo, Mr. Benesh was orphaned at age 4 and grew up in Detroit, graduating from Henry Ford Trade School in 1934.

The next year, he married Kathryn Macut and settled in Monroe County.

Mr. Benesh was a member of First Presbyterian Church, Monroe. He also supported St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, Monroe.

His other memberships included the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and Monroe Lodge, F&AM.

Surviving are his wife of 71 years, Kathryn; son, Peter; daughters, Mary Ann, Carolyn, and Eve, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be at ... St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, Monroe. The family suggests tributes to a charity of the donor's choice.