Benjamin Thomas Layton, 83, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who became an ROTC instructor at Chamberlain High School in Washington from 1966 to 1967 and an equal-opportunity specialist at the Agriculture Department from 1967 to 1985, died February 15, 2001 at Holy Cross Hospital after a heart attack.

Colonel Layton, a Kensington resident, was born in Hanover, Virginia. He was a graduate of Virginia Union University in Richmond and did graduate work in social sciences at the University of Chicago.

He was in the Army from 1941 to 1963, and during World War II participated in the Battle of the Bulge. His last active duty assignment was commanding a military detachment in Baumholder, Germany. His decorations included the Bronze Star.

He settled in the Washington area in the mid-1960s, and his memberships included the Masons, the Kiwanis Club of Wheaton and the Federation Nationale des Anciens Combattants, a French veterans group.

His marriage to Irma Goode ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife since 1958, Marguerite Charron Layton of Kensington; two daughters from his second marriage, Isabelle Layton of France and Catherine Layton of Ithaca, N.Y.; a brother, William Wendell Layton of Washington; a sister, Jeannette Layton Forrester of Nashville; and four grandchildren.

On Thursday, February 15, 2001 BENJAMIN THOMAS LAYTON, of Kensington, MD. Beloved husband of Marguerite; father of Isabelle Layton, of France and Catherine Layton, Ithaca, NY; brother of Jeanette Forrester, of Nashville, TN and William Wendell Layton, of Washington, DC. Also survived by grandchildren, Antonin and Vincent Cosson, Maxwel and Chloe' Kroll. Friends may call at JOSEPH GAWLER'S SONS, 5130 Wisconsin Ave. at Harrison St., N.W. on Thursday, March 8, 5 to 8 p.m. Services will be held at Fort Myer Chapel, Fort Myer, VA on Friday, March 9, at 11 a.m. Interment with full military honors Arlington National Cemetery.