Benjamin Lester Abberger III, who worked on the 1976 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas and worked as a Cabinet aide to Florida Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner Bill Gunter, died on August 15, 2025. He was 72.
He was born to Nancy Hardy Abberger and Benjamin Lester Abberger, Jr., M.D. on November 22, 1952, in Orlando. He attended Davidson College in North Carolina, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science.
In Tallahassee, Abberger owned B.L. Abberger and Co., a public affairs and investment banking concern, and was actively involved the community. He served as Chair of the Bach Parley, Habitat for Humanity, the Leroy Collins Leon County Library System, Horizon Communities (a faith-based prison ministry), the Tallahassee Urban Design Commission, and Health News Florida.
Additionally, Lester served on the Boards of Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, and the Tallahassee Neighborhood Medical Center. He helped lead the effort of the Knight Creative Community Institute group whose Get Gaines Going initiative invigorated and redesigned the corridor between downtown Tallahassee, Florida State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and the airport.
He is survived by his wife Amanda Leigh Stringer and stepchildren Elizabeth Shipp Sauer and Benjamin Storms Sauer, brothers John Albert Abberger (wife Gretchen Paxson Abberger and nieces Mary Ellen Abberger and Caroline Elizabeth Abberger), and William West Abberger (wife Mary Anne Koos). He is predeceased by brother Eric Hardy Abberger.
Benjamin Lester Abberger III, Fourth-Generation Floridian, Dies at 74 added by Staff on
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RIP