William (Benny) Benjamin was a drummer for Motown's in-house band, the
Funk Brothers from '58 till mid-'60's. He was born Jul.15,1925 in
Birmingham,AL and died in Apr.,1969 in Mims,FL 32754. His Social
Security # was:377-20-0866. I need his actual date of death. I can pay
$3.00.

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Request for Question Clarification by revbrenda1st-ga on 21 Nov 2002 06:31 PST

Hi bluestreak,

According to several Motown sites, Benjamin died in 1968. According to
the Social Security Index he died, as you've stated, in April '69. Now
I've found a site which lists his death (with an actual date) as being
in MAY, but the birth date says in "Early 1930's" so I'm not sure how
accurate this information would be. The info comes from a radio
station in WA.

Regards,
revbrenda1st

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Clarification of Question by bluestreak-ga on 21 Nov 2002 15:39 PST

There are often conflicting accounts & dates.  If I come by a date, I
often try to obtain an obit, by emailing the local library, closest to
the place of death. That usually settles the date of death.  The date
of birth is more difficult, but online birth records are available
through ancestry.com, and various other resources. Did you want to
reveal the date of death. Hopefully, it has a place of death that I
can check out.

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Clarification of Question by bluestreak-ga on 28 Nov 2002 08:02 PST

Question for revbrenda1st,                                            
         I now believe that Benny Benjamin did indeed die in 1968. In
the recently released movie, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, in one
place they refer to Benny's death coming around the time of Martin
Luther King's assasination. So that would be around May,1968. Could I
have that May date that you found? I hope you still have it. 
Bluestreak

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Request for Question Clarification by revbrenda1st-ga on 28 Nov 2002 09:46 PST

Hi bluestreak,

Life is not simple in the world of clarification. :)  I think our
wires got  tangled! So, I'll just recap, eh? The specific date I found
is indeed for May -- May 2 -- but it is not for 1968, it's for 1969.

"William "Benny" Benjamin (The Funk Brothers) Early 1930's-May 2,
1969"

I did find references to 1968, but I didn't keep a record of those
because there was no specific date given. I'm sorry. Also, the year
1969 was provided in the Social Security Index.

Regards,
revbrenda1st

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Clarification of Question by bluestreak-ga on 28 Nov 2002 11:25 PST

Dear Revbrenda1st,                                                    
         You know what? I think I got the wrong guy from the SS death
index. His birthday is way off and Benjamin died in NYC. He also died
around the time of King's assasination. I'm going with your date May
2, since it fits in with King's death date. Could you please enter
your findings as an answer and I'm going to close the question since I
think you worked hard enough to earn as close an answer as we're gonna
find. Thank you so much for finding his death date, which IS what I'm
looking for. My instincts tell me, May 2,1968 is it.  Bluestreak

Thankyou, bluestreak,

To comply with your request, I'm providing the May 2 date as an
official answer.       :)

Now, I want to give you the URL on which that date was found. You
might find the answers to similar questions that turn up in the
future. Just scroll down a  piece to see what I mean.

http://www.kser.org/shows/dusties/lists.html

Regards,
revbrenda1st

Thank you so very much for your excellent researching. I couldn't have
found my info without such invaluable help. Please keep helping me!