JOSEPH "ARONHIENTHA" BENEDICT

Joseph "Aronhientha" Benedict – March 13, 1921~April 16, 2016. Joe was a hard worker, a young entrepreneur in the art of lacrosse stick making and playing music. He was a phenomenal fiddler who played at many weddings in Akwesasne and at local bars in the area. He was a farmer who raised farm animals and gardens full of fruit and vegetables for years. He worked at the old Lacrosse Factory and later opened up his own shop and supplied Akwesasne, Oka and Kahnawake with wooden lacrosse sticks of his own. He was inducted into the Akwesasne Lacrosse Hall of Fame on October 11, 2002 for taking pride in the game of lacrosse that the Creator gave to us and the many years of lacrosse enjoyment that he gave to the community of Akwesasne. He was proud of his family and took pride in giving everybody nicknames. He loved visitors and going for rides here and there. He loved his family, all the residents and nurses at Iakhihsohtha Home for the Elderly and all the new friends he made there.

Dear son of the late Silas Benedict and the late Catherine Tekakeirtha Jocko. Beloved husband of the late Mary Kawennahente Boots and the late Cecelia Gabriel. Predeceased by four daughters: Marion Herne, Linda Hopps, Susie Square, Catherine Benedict in infancy; one son, John Benedict; three grandsons, Peter Hopps, Timmy Benedict, Jade Benedict; one great-grandson, Tyler Benedict; two sisters Leah Pierce and Louise Smoke; and one brother David Benedict. Surviving are his children Jean Benedict (Joey Whitecrow), Wanda Sharrow (Ken), Kateri Benedict (Thomas), Roger Benedict (Barbara), Jr. Benedict (Darlene), Phillip Benedict (Lisa Johnson), 35 grandchildren, 62 great-grandchildren, 5 great-great-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews, cousins, sister-in-law Charmaine Booth from Onondaga, step-children Bertha Jacobs (Francis), Marilyn Deer, Adeline Gabriel, Elizabeth Horn (Frank) and many step-grandchildren, step-nieces and nephews. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Lahaie and Sullivan, Cornwall Funeral Homes, West Branch, 20 Seventh Street West, (613-932-8482). The family was in attendance at 431 Island Road, Akwesasne from 2 p.m. Tuesday. Funeral Thursday, April 21, 2016 for Mass of Christian Burial in St. Regis Church Akwesasne, Quebec at 2 p.m. Interment to follow. Messages of condolence may be left at http://www.lahaiesullivan.ca.