Pastor Jesus Luis Gonzalez-Benejan, 87, of Lake Alfred, Florida passed away at his residence with his family at his bedside on September 22, 2019. He was born on July 24, 1932 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico to Hiram and Acacia (Benejan) Gonzalez. He served in the US Army during the Korean War Era. After his honorable military service, he became a Pastor working for the Southern Baptist Conference. He belonged to the 1st Baptist Church of Polk City, Florida and moved to the Lake Alfred area in 2018 from Polk City, Florida.
Pastor Gonzalez-Benejan is preceded in death by his parents and siblings. He is survived by his loving and dedicated family; his wife of almost 64 years, Elba Gonzalez of Lake Alfred, Florida; his sons, Jesus L. Gonzalez Jr. and his wife, Elsa Larramendi of Lake Alfred, Florida; Arnaldo Gonzalez and his wife, Luz of Cairo, Georgia and Eliezer Gonzalez and his wife, Francis Garcia of Auburndale, Florida; his daughters; Millie Gonzalez of Boston, Massachusetts and Noemi “Linda” Gonzalez and her husband, Juan Cartagena of Polk City, Florida; a brother, Jose R. Gonzalez of New York, New York; three sisters; Rosa Ramos of Puerto Rico; Carmen Gonzalez of Puerto Rico and Elba Ramos of Clifton, New Jersey; 19 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Pastor Gonzalez-Benejan’s service will be held on Friday, September 27, 2019 at 11:00 AM at the 1st Baptist Church of Polk City, 212 Hamolia Avenue, Polk City, Florida with Pastor Matt Ellis officiating. The family will receive friends at the church from 10:00 AM until service time. Graveside service and full military honors will be on Friday, September 27, 2019 at Florida National Cemetery, 6502 SW 102nd Avenue, Bushnell, Florida with the US Army and the VFW Post 10209 providing honors.
Please send all floral arrangements directly to the church prior to the service.
I will never forget you abuelo you will be greatly missed but happy because you will finally be in the paradise you told is so much about I will always keep you in my heart rest in peace grandpa
My father is greatly missed by many for his work and dedication. My fathers legacy shall be carried on not only by his family, also by the many families he helped and cared for,by the many weddings he preformed, the many phone calls he prayed with. My father was an advisor to the Mayor of Mayaguez Puerto Rico for various years praying for the mayor and his agenda
My father never let himself get mad nor upset but when something was wrong or bad he would bow his head to pray and meditate for the situations he had to encounter
My father was well known and loved and shall always live in our hearts knowing He did many great things
I am proud to say he was my father my friend my help my advisor and hero I miss you dad I love you for always and you shall forever be my hero Rest easy enjoying the presence of Our Lord and Savior
Thank you for all you did
You will be missed by many granpa Luis I know u are no longer in pain but we sure miss you . One thing for sure is your legacy will no be over with u it will continue with your kids grandkids and great grandkids love u and will take care of grandma promise u that Rest In Paradise ❤️👼🏽
Dear Dad,
Thank you for being the greatest , husband, father, grandfather and humanitarian. All your love will forever live in us. Most of all, thank you for teaching us, the love of our Lord, Jesus Christ, above all things. That has always been
your testimony in life, passed down to your family. Your legacy will continue to live in us. May the Lord greet you with your earned golden crown, by His side. Thank you for your love and dedication to your family, but most of all, for being my dad. I love you! ❤️
Love,
Noemí (Linda), Karla Noemi, Carlos Luis
My most sincere condolences to the family from me and my wife. Pastor Luis González was an excellent father,friend, preacher and overall a very lovely servant of the Lord. I will miss him greatly. Thanks to him,I got more closer to God and learned a lot from the Bible. May his memory be of blessing for generations to come. Shalom.
My grandfather was a role model . Yes he was a pastor and taught me everything I know from the man up above. because he instilled it in me so much knowledge. I know you are looking down from up above and watching all of us. Your watching from a place you taught me all my life. It’s kinda hard to put into words a goodbye because this isn’t a goodbye it a see you later! I can’t wait to see your face again! Just know grandpa I will do my best to make you proud! I love you !
even thou u didn’t get to have a close relationship with Eva she still knew who you were and she loved you very much. You are greatly missed.
Rest In Paradise next to the King of Kings
Love
Arym myralies and Eva Sharym
My dear grandpa I love you so much….I miss u …but I know your sitting happy next to our Lord ….just like he promised.I will forever remember you as one of the greatest son ,brother,husband,father,grandfather, and great grandfather no one can replace you.Please watch over us and make sure we fulfill our destiny on this earth so we can meet again. See you when God sents for me ….May you rest in peace always and forever. Until se meet again …. love Christy and fam !
I will never forget the time when I was little and go to you’re house and u would play around and say where ur wife and kids and just play around wit me I will always keep those memories with me it hurts that u are gone now but I know u are in a better place telling better doing better than u ever did here we you’re Family are gonna miss u a bunch and it is gonna be hard without you for couple weeks be we will learn how to make the best go all this and we gonna go thru all of it and we all gonna come together and be a strong family spend time together and especially take care of ur wife (our grandma -great grandma ) we all love u and I wish everything in our family to better us and everything I love u especially Im ur first great grand child ❤️😭
I have never met Mr. Gonzalez, but I knew of him through his daughter, Noemi, where she decribed him from the memories she had with as a child.
Her and I had spoke of the spanish pastor on television back in the where he made perdition to the spanish audience regarding their future.
Noemi had said her father used to say he is the devil. We laughed, but her father was telling the truth according to scriptures.
Tio, today you will unite once again with the love of your life, titi Elba. As I remember you, a Reverend, you placed God first all throughout your ministry. With your congregation and the community as humble and humane. With your family, loving and responsible. Always with the shiniest boots and dressed with style.That was titi Elba who always kept her whole family neatly dressed.Today her body will lay by your side, even though both your souls are in heaven. Both of you are smiling and glorifying the Lord. It’s a day of mourning but also of celebration for you have left a beautiful and loving family. They know that their lives belong to Jesus Christ, both titi Elba and you set the example in each one.