Bennie B. Fields, 78 of Bluffton, went home to be with his Lord Thursday evening, June 2, 2022, at the Veterans Hospital in Marion.

 He was born March 18, 1944 in Lathan, Ohio, to Willie and Lizzie Collins Fields. He served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1972, during the Vietnam War, and was honorably discharged as a Specialist 4.

 Bennie worked at Caylor Nickel Clinic for 35 years as a maintenance supervisor, retiring in 2007.  He was a member of the American Legion Post 111 of Bluffton and a life member of the Disabled American Veterans. He enjoyed spending time with his family, singing and playing his guitar, and writing poems, along with traveling and taking pictures, spending time of the beach, and camping. He was always ready to help anyone who needed anything!

 On Feb. 15, 1964, in Middletown, Ohio, he married Patsy Patterson Fields and they have shared 59 years together. His wife survives.

Additional survivors include two sons, Christopher (Leeann) Fields of Bluffton and Billy Fields of New Castle; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; his siblings, Tommy (Vickie) Fields and Wayman (Wendy) Fields, both of Middletown, Ohio, Jessie (Kathy) Fields of Tennessee, Joe Fields of Dalton, Ga.; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

 He is preceded in death by his parents and seven siblings, Silas Fields, Eli Fields, Eddie Fields, Arley Fields, Marybell Gassaway, Ethel Graft, and Sally Miller

Services will be held at noon Thursday, June  9, at the Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home with Pastor John Roe officiating. Burial will take place at the Fairview Cemetery in Bluffton with military honors by the  U.S. Army Honor Guard and American Legion Post 111 Honor Guard. Memorials may be made to the Marion Veteran Affairs Medical Center’s Alzheimer’s Unit and can be sent to the funeral home.

 Visitation hours are 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home and for one hour prior to the service on Thursday.

 Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home in Bluffton. Friends can send online condolences to the family at www.thomarich.com