Long time Bay Minette resident, Edsel Earl Dannelley, passed away on Aug. 7, 2026, at Thomas Hospital in Fairhope. His caregiver and grandson, Charles J. (CJ) Benintende, Jr, was in attendance.
Edsel was a true native of the Northern Gulf Coast having been born in Bluff Springs, Florida on March 31,1945 and, excepting his three years of service to our country, never lived more than an hour’s drive from the waters of the Gulf.
At the age of 19, during the Vietnam War, Edsel entered the US Army. He served three years, both in the United States and in the Pacific Region, for which he received the National Defense Service Medal.
Upon returning home, he initially worked for the State of Alabama, later joining the Continental Motors Division of Teledyne Technologies, Incorporated. Edsel retired in 2009 after 30 years of employment with the company.
In addition to CJ, with whom Edsel had an especially close and caring relationship over many years, his survivors include CJ’s son Conner and a second grandson, Jacob Benintende as well as Naomi Posey, and her daughter, Terri.
Edsel joined his late wife, Marshalene Rowell Dannelley, in the place prepared for him: next to her, under a common headstone, in her hometown of Monroeville. Internment was preceded by a private ceremony.
