William (Bill) McConnell Benton, a Richmond, VA native, and successful home builder/developer and entrepreneur, died on December 14, 2015 at his home in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Bill Benton had always enjoyed eating oysters.  He understood that the collapse of the Chesapeake Bay Oyster population was due to demand overwhelming supply and to a quickly deteriorating Chesapeake Bay environment.

Bill Benton reflected on how to effectively restore the habitat in which Oysters could thrive. Before he died, Bill Benton made arrangements to have his cremated ashes incorporated into an Living Memorial Oyster Reef (LMOR) created in 2015. It was Bill Benton’s hope that his memory and love for the Chesapeake Bay environment will inspire others to help in the same way.