Basil Dean Benedict

Basil is a son of Ralph Ray Benedict and Helen Josephine Hansen. He had a tumultuous childhood. His mother had been previously married and had two sons from that marriage. She was married to Basil's father long enough to have four children: Frances Elaine, Basil, Harlan Clay, and Betzi Gayle. The 1920 Census shows their mother and the six children living with their grandparents, Peter and Hellen Hansen.
In 1930 Basil was living with his uncle, Creeley Ackerman. In 1940 he was a 27 year old single man living on his own. He married Henrietta Van den Akker in 1940 in Reno, Nevada. He served in the United States Navy Reserve from January 6, 1943 through January 14, 1946. Basil and Henrietta became parents to three children: Barry, Van, and Helen. Henrietta died in 1958.
On February 14. 1960, in El Dorado County, California, Basil married Earline Alberta Cornelius. Basil was a newspaperman.

From Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) - Saturday, January 28, 1961:
Two Sacramento newspapermen, whose car skidded on icy U.S. Highway 50 coming down Meyer's grade near Lake Tahoe, crashed into a bus. Basil D. Benedict, 47, of Fair Oaks, and Day Churchman of North Highlands, died in the wreckage of their small foreign car.
Benedict, former editor of the Tahoe Daily Tribune, recently went to work on the telegraph desk of the Sacramento Daily Union. Churchman was a columnist for the same newspaper.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 15 2022, 11:31:40 UTC