“If we’d stop finding what’s wrong and begin looking for the good and what’s right in other people, we would have a much better life, a much better world, less conflict, and less controversy.”
Introduction
The life of Dr. Benny reflects a truth that is easy to admire from a distance and much harder to live each day: service is not usually one dramatic act. It is a way of showing up. It is being prepared when others are not. It is accepting responsibility before it becomes convenient, and carrying it with steadiness even when it asks for time, commitment, or personal sacrifice.
His journey is rooted in that understanding. Long before public service gave his life a professional direction, he had learned that work was not something to be avoided. It was a necessary part of life and, in many ways, a source of dignity. The world in which he grew up did not offer luxuries freely. People worked because work was how families endured, how young people earned what they needed, and how self-respect took shape. He learned early that effort could become a habit, and that habit later became one of the strongest features of his character.
There was also an early sense of purpose in him. He did not speak of his career as something that happened by accident. The opportunity to serve in law enforcement came through perseverance, preparation, and what he modestly described as being in the right place at the right time. Yet opportunity alone does not sustain a lifetime of responsibility. It must be matched by judgement, resilience, and a willingness to keep learning. Those qualities allowed him to move from local beginnings into federal service, executive leadership, private sector security, aviation, and civic responsibility.
The work of protecting others carries a particular weight. It requires alertness at moments when everyone else may be relaxed. It asks for sacrifice during holidays, family occasions, public events, and travel. It demands the ability to observe carefully, act quickly, and understand that a decision made in seconds can matter deeply. Dr. Benny came to know the seriousness of that work from the inside. He also understood that the visible side of security is only a small part of what it requires. Much of it is preparation, planning, investigation, assessment, and the quiet discipline of never assuming that safety will take care of itself.
His career brought him into contact with people and events of national importance, yet he never presented that experience as a reason for self-importance. He saw it as an honour. Being selected for responsibility meant that others trusted his ability to carry it. Being given the opportunity to teach, lead, and build programmes meant that he had a duty to give his best. The same outlook shaped the way he spoke about the men and women around him. Professional achievement, in his view, was never the work of one person alone. It depended upon colleagues, teachers, mentors, teams, and families who understood the demands of service.
There is another side to his story that is equally important. His life was not shaped only by duty to an institution. It was also shaped by loyalty to family. When his mother needed care, professional ambition yielded to a more personal responsibility. When community opportunities arose later in life, he and his wife found ways to become part of the civic fabric of their home. When he looked toward the future, he did not speak about more titles or personal recognition. He spoke about grandchildren, voluntary service, charitable support, and the hope that people might spend less time finding fault in one another and more time noticing what is good.
"The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary."
Phase 1: Roots in Kosciusko and the Example of Hard Work
Dr. (H.C.) J. Benny Crosby was born in the final month of 1943 in Kosciusko, Mississippi, a small town situated near the centre of the state. He was the only child of Albert F. Crosby and Ruth H. Crosby, a fact that gave his place within the family a particular closeness. His father was a diesel engineer, and his mother owned a beauty shop where women came to have their hair and nails attended to. Their occupations were different, yet both reflected the practical world in which their son was raised. They worked, they provided, and they did what was necessary for their household to move forward.
The years of his childhood were not years of excess. Mississippi, like much of the United States during that period, was still marked by economic hardship. Jobs were not plentiful, gasoline had been rationed, and most families lived carefully. For many people, there was enough to survive, but not enough for the little luxuries that made childhood easier or more carefree. He did not describe his early years as unhappy, nor did he speak about them with bitterness. He remembered them as a good childhood, made secure by loving and hardworking parents.
That distinction mattered. His parents did not have money to spend freely on entertainment or extras, yet their son had what he needed. There was food on the table, clothing to wear, and an education available to him. There was also a sense of moral order in the home. Albert and Ruth taught him through the example of their own lives that responsibility was not something to be discussed endlessly. It was something to be practised. The values of that household were uncomplicated and enduring. Work mattered. Honesty mattered. Education mattered. The effort a person gave to others mattered. These ideas became part of him before he ever wore a badge, entered a government office, or carried the weight of a major professional responsibility. The small-town world around him made those lessons visible everywhere. People knew one another. They saw who worked, who kept their word, and who could be depended upon when something needed to be done.
As an only child, he observed adult life closely. His parents’ work was not glamorous, yet it was purposeful. His father’s technical profession and his mother’s business each required skill, patience, and commitment. From them, he learned that dignity did not come from status. It came from the way a person conducted himself, handled obligations, and treated others.
The financial limitations of his early years also helped him develop a practical independence. He understood that if he wanted something beyond the essentials his parents could provide, he would need to earn it. That awareness did not make him resentful. It made him resourceful. The instinct to work, save, and make his own way began early and remained with him throughout his life.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Phase 2 : A Young Life Built Around Work, Study, and Discipline
For all twelve years of his school education, Dr. Benny remained in the same small town where he had been born. His early life in Kosciusko was marked by a rhythm that would have tested many young people. He attended school, worked long hours, participated in activities he enjoyed, and still maintained himself as a good student. The discipline required to do all of that did not arrive later in his life. It was already taking shape while he was still a boy.
He began working at the local movie theatre around the sixth grade. The job was not taken up because he had a special fascination with films. It came from a practical understanding of his family’s circumstances. His parents worked hard, but there was not extra money for the small pleasures and expenses that mattered to a young person. If he wanted his own money, he knew he needed to earn it.
The theatre became an important part of his young life. After school ended around three in the afternoon, he would go directly there and work until about half past five. He would then walk home, eat his evening meal, and walk back to the theatre for another shift, often working from seven until ten at night. The next morning, he would get up and begin the routine again.
His weekends were no lighter. Saturdays could begin at ten in the morning and continue until ten or eleven at night. Sundays also included hours at the theatre, beginning in the afternoon and extending into the evening. It was a demanding pattern for a student, especially one who had schoolwork to complete and other interests to pursue. Yet he endured it as a normal part of life. Working was not a temporary inconvenience. It became a habit that helped shape his understanding of commitment.
The long hours did not prevent him from taking part in school life. He played baseball and served behind the plate as a catcher, a position that required close attention, resilience, and quick response. He enjoyed the game, and it gave him a different kind of discipline from the one he knew at work. On the field, he had to stay alert, support his team, and respond to what unfolded in front of him.
Music also became part of his school experience. He played in the high-school band and continued in the band when he later attended college. These interests added balance to a life that might otherwise have been entirely consumed by work and study. They also showed that even in a tightly structured routine, he found room for participation, enjoyment, and personal growth.
His work at the theatre never warranted a complaint, something he carried into later life. Instead, it became one of the clearest illustrations of how his work ethic was formed. He learned the value of showing up. He learned that fatigue did not remove responsibility. He learned that a task had to be completed whether or not someone felt particularly rested or inspired. Those lessons would serve him well in every major responsibility that followed.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
Phase 3 : Turning an Early Calling into a Career Path
The desire to work in law enforcement had been with Dr. Benny for as long as he could remember. It came not from a single event, but from the quiet impressions formed during childhood in Kosciusko. In a small town, the police force was also small, and its officers were familiar figures. He watched how they treated people and noticed that they were good to everyone. Their work seemed useful, orderly, and connected to the well-being of the community.
By his senior year of high school, this early interest had become a serious ambition. He began thinking about the kind of agency in which he might build a career, earn a reasonable income, and eventually have retirement benefits. Like many young people who imagined a future in federal law enforcement, he knew about the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In his English class, he wrote a career paper about the possibility of working for the FBI.
His first plan was bold. After completing high school, he thought he could go to Washington, D.C., with his diploma, work in the FBI identification division, attend night school, and eventually qualify to become a special agent. He travelled to the capital with that goal in mind. It was a practical plan on paper, one that combined employment with education. Yet the reality of living in Washington quickly showed him what the plan would cost.
After around ninety days, he realised that food, transportation, and apartment rent would leave him with no money to pursue college. The experience did not discourage him from his larger ambition. It taught him to reassess the route. He understood that the plan had not worked as expected, so he returned home and went to summer school to make up for the time he had lost. Rather than allowing the setback to become an ending, he adjusted and continued.
College became a period of sustained effort. His parents were not wealthy, and he worked his way through his studies. He served as a dormitory manager and also worked on the campus police force. During the final two years of his university education, he obtained a temporary teaching certificate and taught at the State School for the Blind in Mississippi while attending classes. The combination of work, study, and responsibility was demanding, yet it reflected the pattern he had already known since childhood.
He completed a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi College in 1966. The degree represented more than an academic achievement. It was the result of persistence through financial limitation, changing plans, long working hours, and a clear commitment to build a future through his own efforts. He had not taken the easiest route to graduation, but he had taken a route that taught him self-reliance.
After college, the opportunity to begin a law-enforcement career arrived through a friend who was sheriff in the county where he had grown up. Knowing of his interest in the field, the sheriff offered to appoint him Chief Deputy Sheriff. Dr. Benny accepted and served in that role for approximately two years.
Note of Thanks
With deep gratitude, Dr. Benny acknowledges the people whose presence, effort, and encouragement have shaped his life. His first gratitude belongs to his parents, whose hard work, love, and moral guidance gave him a foundation that could not be measured by material means. Their sacrifices made education possible, taught him the dignity of responsibility, and gave him the values he carried into every chapter of life.
He also holds in sincere regard the teachers who devoted themselves to helping others learn. Their work helped young people see possibilities beyond their immediate circumstances, and their influence formed an important part of his own journey. The education he received became a bridge to every opportunity that followed.
His gratitude extends to the men and women of the United States Secret Service, whose professionalism, commitment, and sacrifice made demanding work possible. The responsibilities of protection and investigation were never carried by one person alone. They depended upon colleagues who were prepared to serve at all hours, travel when needed, and place the safety of others before personal convenience.
He is equally thankful for the professional relationships that continued beyond federal service, including those formed in private enterprise and civic leadership. Each opportunity to serve brought him into contact with people who shared a belief in preparation, responsibility, and constructive work.
His family remains central to his gratitude. Their support has given warmth and meaning to a life shaped by demanding responsibilities. His appreciation for Perla, his children, grandchildren, and extended family rests in the simple knowledge that professional accomplishment means little without the people who share life’s joys, challenges, and ordinary moments.
Finally, he offers thanks to the citizens and community of Sanford, who have given him and Perla the opportunity to contribute, participate, and remain useful. Their community life has allowed him to continue the work that has always mattered most to him: helping where he can, supporting worthwhile efforts, and living with gratitude for every chance to serve.
thanks,
– Dr. (H.C.) J. Benny Crosby