Thomas Joseph BenHayon

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Thomas Joseph BenHayon, Tom, age 84, of King Hill, passed peacefully Friday, March 3, 2023 at a Boise hospital. Tom was laid to rest beside his wife Joyce at Glenn Rest Cemetery in Glenns Ferry, Idaho.

Tom was the only child born to John and Mildred (Newman) BenHayon on March 3, 1938 in Berkeley, California. Toms’ early years were spent traveling and sight seeing between California and Michigan when going to see Mildreds family.

In 1955, on his 17 birthdays, Tom joined the Navy where he served as an ADJ3 or Aviation Machinist Mate (Jet Engine Mechanic). He was stationed on the USS Yorktown and NAS Corpus Christi, Texas and was honorably discharged on March 16, 1963. After the Navy, he moved to Seattle, Washington where he met and married Susan Jean McIntyre of Kennewick, Washington. They had 1 child together named Joseph T. BenHayon Jr. In 1970, Tom and Sue divorced. Tom traveled a bit before making his home in Idaho. He worked for road construction on the Glenns Ferry section of I-84 where he helped build the Great Wall west of town and the twin bridges across the Snake River, past Paradise Valley and King Hill.

Thomas made a lot of life-long friends during his time on this Earth. There was rarely a stranger he met that didn’t become a friend. In Toms 47 years of living in King Hill, he had managed to see just about everything there is to see in Southern and Central Idaho. He especially enjoyed rock-hounding, finding arrowheads, cool rocks and exploring the Pioneer trails.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents, and wife of twenty years, Joyce Cockerham.

Tom is survived by his son Joseph and wife Jo-el BenHayon of Montrose, Colorado, stepdaughter Tanya and husband Shawn Morrison of Wendell, Id., stepson Mickey Cockerham of Gooding, Id. 9 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.