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It is with
great regret and sorrow that I must notify you of the death of our classmate,
Ben Covington, on July 31, 2023 in Vilas, NC.
Ben is survived
by his sons, Benjamin IV and his wife Lori, and Farley and his wife Lisa; eight
grandchildren; and one great grandchild. Ben was predeceased by his wife, Ruth.
Visitation will
be from 9 AM to 5 PM at Hampton Funeral Home, 683 Blowing Rock Road, Boone, NC
28607.
A celebration of Ben and Ruth’s lives will be at the Church of the Holy
Cross, Banner Elk, NC on a date to be determined
The funeral
service for Ben Covington will be at 1:30 PM, November 7, 2023, at the Old Cadet
Chapel with burial to follow in the West Point Cemetery.
Those attending
should meet at Hogan Funeral Home, 135 Main St, Highland Falls, NY 10928 NLT 1
PM.
The family is
planning a reception after the funeral -- details to be announced.
In lieu of
flowers, the family has requested that donations in Ben’s memory be sent to The
High Country Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, PO Box
3312, Boone, NC 28607-3312.
Well done,
Ben. Be thou at peace.
Remembrances:
Class Memorial Pages\F-1 Ben Covington.pdf
Obituaries:
Benjamin Wilson Covington III
 COL Benjamin Wilson Covington III served in the United States Army as a Cavalry
officer for over 28 years. He commanded two Cavalry Troops in Germany and
Vietnam, a Tank Battalion in Germany and an Armored Brigade at Fort Hood. He
served a total of 15 years overseas: 12 years in Germany and three years in
Vietnam with U.S. and Vietnamese forces. He retired after serving as the
President of the U.S. Army Training Board at Fort Monroe, VA.
He held a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the United States Military
Academy at West Point, a Master’s in National Security from The National War
College, and a Master’s and ABD from Columbia University in History of the
English Language and 18th Century English Literature. He taught Philosophy and
English Literature at West Point for three years.
After his retirement, he and his wife Ruth lived in Texas and Germany before
settling in Valle Crucis NC, where they spent over 20 years serving the
community in a variety of ways. As the Director of the High Country Chapter of
the Military Officer’s Association of America, he was instrumental in the of the
construction of the Veteran’s Memorial in downtown Boone, NC.
Over the years, he leveraged his experience with army training and doctrine to
act as a senior advisor for multiple Eastern European countries in their efforts
to improve their militaries to enable their entry into the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization. He also spent a year in Iraq, using his expertise to advise the
Iraqi government in ways to modernize their military.
He is preceded in death by his wife Ruth, and is survived by his two sons,
physician Benjamin IV and Army Warrant Officer Farley.
The body will lie in state at Hampton Funeral Home Chapel, 683 Blowing Rock Road
in Boone, NC from 9:00 until 5:00 Wednesday, August 9th, so friends may pay
their respect and sign the guest book . The family will be at the funeral home
to receive friends from 1:00 until 2:00. A celebration of Ben and Ruth’s lives
will be held at the Holy Cross Episcopal Church at 122 Skiles Way in Banner Elk,
NC at a date to be determined, and Ben will be interred at West Point, NY at a
date to be determined.
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