April 1, 1937 – September 30, 2009
When he was out of uniform, no one ever guessed that the soft-spoken man with the distinctive, tinkling laugh was a police captain in one of the St. Louis area’s toughest suburbs. But he was. Bennie Ford was a police officer in Wellston, and served for a time as the interim police chief.
He had always worked hard. When his declining health forced him to retire in 1998, he had worked 52 years. He had been gainfully employed since he was nine years old, beginning his work life at Mr. Buddy Nichols’ supermarket in Keiser, Arkansas. When he arrived in St. Louis in 1955, he worked downtown in the Famous-Barr bakery, then as a shipping clerk at Carps Department Store
He graduated from St. Louis Community College at Forest Park with an associate’s degree in law enforcement. He joined the Wellston Police Department in 1969 after graduating from the St. Louis Police Academy and the Missouri State Highway Patrol Academy. He left Wellston after 14 years to work in security for McDonnell Douglas for 24 years. After leaving McDonnell Douglas, he worked for Avis Rent-A-Car.
“I never wanted to retire,” Bennie said. “I always loved to work.”
Bennie was born April 1, 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lula Thomas and Jack Ford. Following graduation from Keiser High School in 1954, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. In 1958, he married Mary Agnes Ross. They went on to have five children: Bernard, Jack, Jeffrey, Chris and Kimberly. Mary and Bennie divorced and he later married Bobbie Johnson, with whom he had one daughter, Bearnice.
Bennie, a longtime member of Kennerly Temple Church of God in Christ, was preceded in death by his son, Jeffrey Kent “Cavey” Ford, his parents and 10 brothers and sisters.
Among those he leaves to mourn are his wife Bobbie Ford of St. Louis, his ex-wife, Mary Ford of Ferguson; sons Rev. Bennie Bernard Ford (Alice) of Lake St. Louis, Jack Leonardo Ford of Ferguson and Christopher Edward Ford, of St. Louis; his daughters Kimberly Denise Alexander (LaMont) of St. Peters and Bearnice Russell (Jethro Hopgood) of Wentzville; his brother, Arthur Strode (Lavolya) of Allen, Texas and his sisters, Irene (Annie Bea) Strode of Atlanta, Ga., Vernell (Dell) Robinson of San Francisco, and Juanita Johnson of St. Louis; two stepsisters, Margaret (Willie) Thomas of St. Louis and Sally Gathing of East St. Louis.
He also leaves six grandchildren: Adrienne Ford, Jennifer and Calvin Alexander, Samantha Daniel, Christian Williams and Gabrielle Hopgood.