Joseph J. “Joe” Benenati Jr., Class of 1932 (Submitted photo)

The Norwich High School (NHS) Hall of Distinction Committee has selected six NHS alumni to be included in the Hall of Distinction. Individuals selected have made outstanding contributions to their chosen fields, including community services, the arts, medical professions, military service, and more, with their contributions having a distinctive impact on a local to global level.

Joseph J. Benenati Jr.: Decorated US Marine and law enforcement official, Class of 1932

By Robert Jeffrey

If the mission of the Norwich High School Hall of Distinction is to inspire students, it would be difficult to find a better example than Joseph J. Benenati, Jr. A New York State Trooper, US Marine, and decorated WWII Veteran, and Chenango County Sheriff. Benenati’s lifetime contributions through his long and prestigious career in public service demonstrate why he was selected for induction into the Norwich High School Hall of Distinction.

Born in Norwich in 1914, Benenati was one of twelve children. He graduated from Norwich High School in 1932, where he played basketball, baseball, and golf, developing a strong sense of competitiveness and teamwork that would serve him well throughout his future career in public service.

Following his graduation, he went to work in the dye house of Norwich Mills. The owner of the company, Fred O’Hara, saw something special in the young man and offered to send him to college. Benenati said he would rather go into the New York State Troopers. O’Hara cleared the way and also taught him how to ride a horse, a requirement for the Troopers at the time.

Only four years later after his high school graduation in 1936, Benenati officially became a New York State Trooper and started his long career in law enforcement.

During his service in the Troopers, Benenati was assigned to be part of the escort team for President Franklin Deleano Roosevelt and his family when they visited Hyde Park.

Evening Sun reporter Kathy O’Hara remembered a story her dear friend often told: “When I was a young trooper, the detail I enjoyed most was escorting President Franklin D. Roosevelt from the Highland substation in Poughkeepsie to the Roosevelt estate in Hyde Park. It wasn’t the prestige of rubbing shoulders with the President of the United States that I enjoyed; it was the good food they served us at Hyde Park.”

When World War II broke out, Benenati received a leave of absence from the NYS Troopers in 1942 to enlist into the United States Marines.

During his 38 months of military service, including 28 months overseas, he participated in some of the Pacific Theater's most significant campaigns, including Bougainville, Guam, and Iwo Jima. Being the leader Benenati was, he received a battlefield commendation and was promoted from Platoon Sergeant to Second Lieutenant for his leadership in the Battle of Guam.

His extraordinary bravery during his service also earned him numerous commendations for his service in the Pacific Campaign; the Navy Unit Citation with two Bronze Stars for Bougainville and Guam, and the Presidential Unit Citation with one Bronze Star for Iwo Jima. In addition, he was later awarded the Bronze Star Medal with a bronze "V" for individual valor, along with the Conspicuous Service Cross.

Following the war, Benenati returned to the troopers and was appointed to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Later, he was appointed supervisor of the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence Unit, where his first assignment was in lake-dragging operations in downstate lakes where “Murder Inc.” had weighted down the bodies of their victims.

His team continued to investigate organized crime, specifically the dealings of “La Costa Nostra,” better known as the “Mafia.” He participated in the 1957 Apalachin raids, where members of New York crime families were meeting. Benenati served a subpoena on mobster Joseph “Joe The Barber” Barbara and arrested him for criminal contempt.

Their mission netted over 50 high-ranking underworld figures. The success of the raid also led the then-Director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover to formally acknowledge the existence of a National Mafia (after previously denying the existence of a national mob) and forced the FBI to focus on and investigate organized crime. The raid and the years of courtroom battles that followed fundamentally broke the Mafia.

After 24 years of service in the NY State Police, Benenati was appointed by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1960 to the position of Sheriff of Chenango County. He then won election after election until his retirement in 1982.

As sheriff, Benenati had progressive ideas. He was a firm supporter of rehabilitation: he believed that a jail is a place where people should be improved, and arranged for prisoners to be given high school equivalency tests.

Sheriff Joe also visited one of the first work furlough programs in the nation and returned to Norwich to begin a release program here. He found employers who would participate in the program, and it was incredibly successful.

Benenati’s progressive views on rehabilitation also played out at Camp Pharsalia, a minimum-security work camp in Chenango County until it closed in 2009. His constant presence at the facility showed the inmates that someone on the outside was interested and cared.

To those outside the law enforcement community, Joe was approachable, his story-telling was humorous, and he was just a great guy. He lived simply near Chenango Lake and loved quietly fishing from a small boat. On one outing, his line was taken by one of the tiger muskies (a sterile hybrid cross between a muskellunge and a northern pike) that the NYSDEC had introduced to control the perch population. Friends are still debating which was bigger: the smile on Joe’s face or the size of the giant fish.

Joe was a loyal member of the Norwich Rotary Club, he attended charitable functions, served as a working member of various boards and organizations, and he encouraged others to do the same. He collected for Toys For Tots around the county, and was especially glad to pick up the handmade toys from Camp Pharsalia to deliver to kids in the area.

No one summarized Sheriff Joe better than Kathy O’Hara’s tribute when she wrote, “He was a large man in every sense of the word. He was tall of stature and generous of heart. He was the epitome of what we believe this community should be.

“He visited the sick. He buried the dead. He was a man of God with a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong. He was humble yet strong. He embraced his community as a family and he served it well his entire adult life. Much can and will be said of him. But know this one thing about him most surely: He saw his duty and he did it.”

Joe will be inducted into the Norwich High School Hall of Distinction on October 24, at 1 p.m. in the Norwich High School Library. The event is open to the public.

The NHS Hall of Distinction Committee aims to recognize and commemorate alumni of Norwich high schools who have made outstanding contributions in the areas of, but not limited to, profession, community service, commerce, religion, and art. Established in 2024, this Hall of Distinction is intended to serve as a vision and source of pride for our community and student body.

To nominate an NHS alum for the Hall of Distinction, complete the nomination form found at norwichcsd.org/documents/district/211781 and submit to NCSD Event Coordinator Rich Turnbull at rturnbull@norwichcsd.org, or drop it off at the District Office at 89 Midland Drive.