Anna Beth Benningfield

Anna Beth Benning¿ eld
was born Feb. 7, 1940, to
Maurice and Geneva (Gaines)
Oliver in Vernon, Texas. She
attended Vernon public schools,
graduating from Vernon High in
1958.
She enrolled at North Texas
State, now University of North
Texas, where she majored in
English, and met her future
husband, Milo Francis Benning¿ eld. They married after
her junior year, and moved to Maryland so Milo could
attend seminary at American University, while she
¿ nished her degree at the University of Maryland. Their
¿ rst child, Milo Mark, was born in nearby Washington
D.C.
They returned to Tom Ball, Texas, where Milo was
hired as pastor of Rose Hill Methodist church. Daughter
Dana was born there in 1964. They then moved to
Houston, when Milo was hired by Bethany Methodist
Church.
In the mid-1960s, Milo sought training in marriage
and family therapy at Philadelphia Child Guidance, in
Pennsylvania. While Milo studied, Anna Beth worked
as a ¿ rst-grade teacher at McMichael Elementary
School, then the largest elementary school on the east
coast.
They again returned to Texas in 1968, settling in
Denton, where Anna Beth taught at Strickland Junior
High, and Milo opened a family therapy practice in
Dallas. Anna Beth later joined him, earning her master’s
and later her PhD in psychology.
She became involved in her state professional group,
and then the national organization, the American
Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. She was
twice elected president, and received its highest award,
the Outstanding Contribution to Marriage and Family
Therapy, in 2002.
Following an amicable divorce from Milo, she
opened a private practice in Austin, before taking a
visiting professorship in family therapy in the program
of her future second husband, Scott Johnson, at Virginia
Tech in 2001. They married in 2005, and traveled
frequently for work and pleasure, while she had a
major role in raising his daughter, Mara, who called her
“Mama B.”
One of the most challenging parts of her time at
Virginia Tech was working with the families of the 32
people killed in the Virginia Tech 2007 shootings, and
with the 27 survivors. She did this through the O൶ ce
of Recovery and Support, which she and Scott, who
worked alongside her, called the worst and best jobs
they ever had.
They retired to Bastrop, Texas, around 2016,
where, two years later, she developed normal pressure
hydrocephalus, a condition she struggled with for the
rest of her life. Despite this, they had many happy times
together, and loving family and friends. In 2022, they
moved to C.C. Young retirement community in Dallas.
She died of cardiopulmonary arrest. She is survived
by her brothers and their wives, Leon and Penny Oliver,
Russ and Sharon Oliver, daughter Dana Benning¿ eld
and husband Mike Maltby, son Milo Benning¿ eld and
his wife Susanna, grandsons Jonah and Max, husband
Scott and his daughter Mara Johnson. There will be a
visitation at Restland Funeral Home, Dallas, at 4 p.m.,
June 13, followed by cremation. A celebration of life
will be scheduled later in the year. Friends and loved
ones are encouraged to donate to the cause of their
choice in her honor.