Benjamin May Jennings

Benjamin May Jennings, loving father, devoted son, brother, friend and artist, died at his home on May 22, 2021 surrounded by his family after a long, hard, but spirited fight with ALS. If the true measure of one’s success is the number of friends they have, Ben died a very wealthy man.

Ben was born on November 28th, 1961 at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta to Ann May Harrison and Legare Comer Jennings, Jr.. After E. Rivers School Ben attended and graduated from The Westminster Schools in 1980. He was the co-captain of the State Championship Westminster Wildcats football team in 1979. At the University of Georgia, he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity and graduated in 1984 with a degree in Fine Arts and Art History.

Ben began his business career in advertising with Saatchi & Saatchi in London and then transitioned into the financial world, working for first Oppenheimer and then Merrill Lynch in Atlanta. However, being the son of renowned portrait artist Comer Jennings, it was not surprising that Ben’s true love was expressing himself in the arts. For a number of years Ben Jennings Designs created, one-of-a-kind rugs. Ben would hand paint rug designs with unique techniques he devised. Ben also designed furniture for BOBO Intriguing Objects, manufacturer of high-end home furnishings.

Throughout his professional career, Ben always kept one foot deeply planted in the arts and he developed and managed numerous art shows for contemporary artists which would also include his own works. Today Ben’s art can be found in collections all over the world. His favorite art show was the Café des Beaux Arts Show at the Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta which he helped create and produce: he tirelessly hung the show from its inception.

Ben took immense pleasure in creating unique and memorable adventures for family vacations. Almost without exception, water and boats were involved. He loved Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina and Islesboro, Maine, where he sailed and explored unusual picnic spots in Ole Bullet, his Boston Whaler. If he could not be on the water, he was building model boats for his boys and for fun. In fact, there simply was not enough time in a day to build and create all the unique projects he was always dreaming up.

Ben was diagnosed with ALS, on November 14, 2014. Knowing the vast expense of care that would be required for Ben, inspired two of his friends, Gary Motley, Tom Pearce, and Peek Garlington to set up a foundation called FACT, Families and Communities Together Relief. This grassroots foundation has subsequently grown to help financially support many families of victims who have been diagnosed with terminal illnesses. Through the gracious support of Ben’s many friends and his loving family who have donated to FACT, The Foundation helped make it possible for Ben to continue to live several years beyond expectations and fulfil his desire to stay in his home to raise his three sons.

Before his complete paralysis, Ben learned to write on an eye gaze computer which allowed him to communicate with visitors in person and through email with his friends all over the world. The description for an incredibly imaginative art show is on his computer right now, a sixteen-page document, each letter, period, number written with focus of his eyes. He was a master of figuring things out, the machine was just one of many.

Ben is survived by his mother, Ann May Harrison, his stepfather, Robert Pegram Harrison; his three sons, James May Jennings (Jack), Samuel Legare Jennings (Sam), Benjamin May Jennings, Jr. and their mother, Dorsey Waldron Mann (husband Rob); his three brothers: Legare Comer Jennings III of Atlanta (wife Donna), and their sons, Legare Comer Jennings IV, William Reynolds Jennings; his brother Robert Baker Pegram Harrison of London (husband Anthony Evans-Pughe); and DeSales Harrison of Oberlin, Ohio and his children Ethan Godchaux Harrison-Weil, Archibald Houston Harrison, Thomas Thacher Harrison, and Phoebe Augustine Harrison.

Services will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at 435 Peachtree Street on Wednesday, May 26th at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the foundation inspired by Ben: FACT – Families and Communities Together Relief, 2246 Roswell Road, Marietta, Georgia 30062. Donations may be made at www.factrelief.org.