Wilkinson, William Benjamin Jr. (Bennie), 94, of Chester, Virginia. He was born in Petersburg, Virginia on February 16, 1931, and passed away peacefully at his home in Chester on January 15, 2026, just one month short of his 95th birthday.

Bennie was predeceased by his wife, Joan Pulley Wilkinson; parents, William Benjamin Wilkinson Sr., and Catherine Mayer Wilkinson; and sisters, Virginia W. Jennings, Louise W. Valenta, Gloria W. Baird, and Ruth S. Bury. Bennie attended Petersburg High School and enlisted in the Marine Reserves and then the Air Force, where he was stationed in Texas and upstate New York at Syracuse Air Force Station with the 32nd Airborne Division. He learned to fly before he could drive, and this early exposure to aviation might explain why he often drove like he was in a fighter jet under intense enemy strafing attack.

Among his many jobs, beginning at a very young age, were newspaper delivery boy for the Petersburg Progress-Index, grocery delivery boy for Landrum’s Store in Petersburg, Petersburg firefighter, insurance salesman, car salesman, and drill press operator at the Reynolds Metals extrusion plant in Chester. The occupation he was proudest of, however, was founding and running Wilkinson Advertising, along with his late wife Joan. The specialty advertising agency won a number of awards from the Specialty Advertising Association and Joan and Bennie attended several SAA conferences during the time they ran Wilkinson Advertising. Bennie was proud of the safety incentive programs that he created and implemented for several large companies in Richmond and Hampton Roads.

Bennie was a master gardener and carpenter. After devouring Popular Science and Popular Mechanics every month for decades, there was nothing that Bennie could not repair. His imagination was always working to solve problems. He used to say, “if I can draw it, I can build it.” He always looked out for the possibilities, believing that “a creative thinker will never fail.” He did many hours of that creative thinking, resting on a church pew while his daughter Cathryn learned to play the organ.

Following his retirement and the sale of Wilkinson Advertising, Bennie spent many hours at the Chester YMCA, although there may have been more talking and laughing than exercising. Bennie also developed a keen interest in pickleball and played well into his 90’s. But one of Bennie’s greatest loves in life was bicycle riding, which he began in earnest in his mid-fifties. He spent many happy hours on rides with the Richmond Area Bicycle Association. He was a founding member of the Crater Area Pedalists, a chapter of the League of American Wheelmen. At age 63 he undertook a cross-country bicycle ride from Seattle, Washington to Purdue, Indiana, with his daughter, Cathryn, and her husband, Brian. After the death of his wife, Joan, Bennie bought a condo on Hilton Head, S.C., and spent many contemplative and healing hours riding the backroads and beaches on his bike.

Bennie was honored to have been a 32nd degree Mason in Blandford Lodge, AF&AM. He was raised in the United Methodist church and was a long-time member of and deacon at Chester United Methodist Church. Bennie was also a proud and enthusiastic member of InfraGard, an FBI-affiliated nonprofit community organization dedicated to strengthening national security.

He beat cancer twice, in addition to a host of other illnesses and conditions that should have taken him out. Giving up was not in his nature, but at the end he found peace and comfort at home with the remarkable compassion of Crater Community Hospice and caregivers Sheri, Ruth, Tracey and DeDe.

Bennie is survived by his daughters, Cathryn (Brian Thompson) of Monterey, CA, and Cindy, of Powhatan, VA; his three grandchildren, Christina Comer (Andrew Corbitt), Matthew Comer, and Chloe Jane Thompson; and numerous nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, and cousins, as well as many close friends and neighbors. A Service of Death and Resurrection will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 7, 2026, at Chester United Methodist Church, 12132 Percival Street, Chester, Virginia 23831, interment immediately following in Sunset Memorial Park, 2901 W. Hundred Road, Chester, Virginia 23831. In lieu of flowers, donations in Bennie’s memory may be made to Crater Community Hospice, 3916 S. Crater Rd., Petersburg, VA, 23805, or to your favorite charity.

Arrangements by the Colonial Heights Chapel of the E. Alvin Small Funeral Homes & Crematory, 2033 Boulevard, Colonial Heights, Virginia 23834. Condolences may be registered at ealvinsmall.com.