OBITUARY
Whitman- Fay O.(Wiltse) Benson, a long-time resident of this town and for many years a teacher in the public schools here, died Friday in Brockton Hospital after suffering a stroke a week before. She was 97.
Mrs. Benson was predeceased, in 1973, by her husband of forty years, Wallace “Wally” Benson, a lifelong Whitman resident, a well-known baseball coach and school committee member.
Mrs. Benson was born in Charles City, Iowa, grew up in Iowa and Minnesota and earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and teaching credentials from Northern Iowa State University.
As a young woman, she was a camp counselor, taught swimming as a water Safety Instructor, and won several local beauty contest and swimming and diving competitions. Her interest included archery, fencing, canoeing, singing and dancing.
She traveled extensively in the United States before coming east to teach school in Springfield, MA, and Burr & Barton Academy in Vermont.
She married Wallace Benson in 1945 and moved to Whitman where she resided for more than six decades. She was a Cub Scout Den Mother, and in later years helped organize class reunions for her husband’s Whitman High School Class of 1935.
In Whitman, she returned to education, first working as a substitute teacher, then physical education teacher at Whitman Junior High School, and later a teacher’s aide at Dyer School.
She was driving her car into her early 90’s, and although she suffered with Restless Leg Syndrome for many years, she was self-sufficient until being stricken with a stroke on the Saturday before her death.
Mrs. Benson’s son, John, of San Francisco, was a reporter for the Enterprise from 1972 – 1983.
In addition to her son, survivors include a daughter, Linda Wolcott of Whitman; son-in-law, Richard Lathrop of Whitman; daughter-in-law, Kathy Benson of San Francisco; a grandson, Mark Wolcott of Abington, and several great-grandchildren.
In keeping with Mrs. Benson’s wishes, her body has been donated to the Harvard Medical School Anatomical Gifts Program for research, and there will be no funeral or graveside services