Samuel Bennion

SAMUEL H. BENNION IDAHO FALLS, ID -- Samuel Horne Bennion, 90, of Idaho Falls, died May 18, 2005, at the Idaho Falls Health & Rehabilitation Center. He was born December 18, 1914, in Taylorsville, Utah, to Samuel Thomas Bennion and Lorilla Horne Bennion, the third son in a family of seven children. Sam graduated from LDS High School in Salt Lake City. He attended the University of Utah where he was an active member of Sigma Chi fraternity. He lived in Idaho Falls since 1943 and was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The highly-successful Idaho businessman built a small gas station business in Logan, Utah into a multi-state, multi-million-dollar oil and gas operation, the Idaho Falls-based V-1 Oil Co. While at the University of Utah, Sam was a successful athlete and served as captain of the track team. The habits he learned as a quarter-miler, taking stock of the competition, getting a strong start, and running hard, served him well in the business world. Starting, while still at the U of U in 1937, with one Blue Bell gasoline station in Logan, Utah, Sam took off running and did not look back. He saw Depression-era America as a nation about to have a romance with the gasoline engine. Events proved him right. During gas-hungry World War II, Bennion concentrated his retailing efforts in Idaho Falls and began hauling gas from Western refineries to high-demand markets. When the war ended, he worked seven days a week to build his empire into nine stations and nine tanker trucks. Blue Bell became V-1 Oil, and its now-familiar rocket logo took off. The red and yellow signs of the company reputed to sell “better gas for less” quickly spread across Utah, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. To spend more time with his family, in the early 1950s the 39-year-old Bennion “retired” to a real estate business in California. But three weeks later, he changed his mind. He returned to his oil business in Idaho and vowed never to retire again. Sam was president of the Idaho Falls Kiwanis Club, a Democratic candidate to the Idaho State Senate in 1960, two term chairman of the Salt Lake City branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, vice-president of the National Trucking Association, a member of the Idaho Falls Elks #1087 and a member of The Sociables of Idaho Falls. His philanthropy affected diverse groups. One of his gifts to ISU is also a gift to the city of Idaho Falls. A 1996 donation of $200,000 enabled ISU to purchase a 10.4-acre site allowing the Samuel H. Bennion Student Union Building to be constructed adjacent to the ISU/University of Idaho Center for Higher Education. The facility serves the more than 2,000 students who attend classes in Idaho Falls. Sam’s affiliation with ISU dates back to 1952, the year he first sponsored the University’s athletic awards banquet. On May 5, ISU celebrated its 53rd Annual Sam Bennion Athletic Awards Banquet. But his support to ISU extends far beyond its athletic program. He gifted and pledged in excess of $3.5 million to numerous University programs. He also purchased the construction permit for KISU television, ISU’s public television channel, and subsequently donated it to ISU. He also donated to ISU athletics scholarships in memory of his deceased grandson Matthew. ISU conferred the honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Sam during the 1998 Commencement ceremonies. Sam also generously gifted the Boy Scouts of America, Teton Peaks Council, in Idaho Falls. He enjoyed sports of all kinds and was an avid fly-fisherman. He loved to travel and took great pleasure in piloting his private plane on many of his trips. A scholarship will be endowed at ISU in Bennion’s honor. Gifts may be sent to the ISU Alumni Association, Campus Box 8033, Pocatello, ID 83209. For additional information, contact Graham Garner at (208) 282-3755. Bennion is survived by six children: Sandra Truex (Roland) of Palm Springs, CA, Samuel Price Bennion (Ilene) of Boise, ID, Kristie Bennion of Horse Creek, WY, Mark Bennion (Anne) of Thayne, WY, Julie Mertlich (Ross) of Roy, UT and Patti Eaton (W. Brent) of Boise, ID, 23 grandchildren, and 23 great grandchildren, and one brother, Dr. Jerald H. Bennion of Salt Lake City, UT. He was predeceased by wives Shirley Price, Faye Elizabeth Judd, and Adriana Paris, one daughter, Shirley Ann Bennion, and two grandsons, Matthew Bennion and Kelly Bennion. His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Samuel Horne Bennion Student Union building at the ISU/University of Idaho Center for Higher Education in Idaho Falls. Family and friends may call Saturday morning from 9 to 9:45 a.m. There will be a viewing from 7 to 8:45 p.m. Friday in the Bennion Student Union Building. Burial will be in Grant-Central Cemetery under the direction of Wood Funeral Home. The family wishes to thank the physicians and staff of Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for the excellent level of care provided to Sam while he was a patient there.