August 17, 2023
August 17, 2023
Remembering your jovial loveliness and generosity Benji, and miss you.
Happy Birthday, Benji!
Today you would have been 81 years old.
Benji’s Celebration of Life was held on Saturday, October 18th at the East-West Center Burns Hall Gallery.
Her ashes were scattered privately on her beloved island of Oahu.
The text of Benji;s eulogy, delivered by her sister Martha Bennington, is located in the website tab above, titled "Her Life"
This memorial website is created in memory of Benji Bennington, who passed away on August 30, 2014. Benji had such a bright and out-going personality! She loved people; she loved meeting new people, and she loved bringing people together. But most of all--she loved the East West Center. She considered every EWC person as a member of her own family. So this is a website for everyone in Benji's huge and world-wide extended family. Please join us in remembering Benji. Please share with all of us a Benji story, a Benji quote, a Benji photo.
Tributes
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August 17, 2021
August 17, 2021
Missing you today Benji. Giving me a place to live for 3 1/2 years while I was a poor undergraduate student at UH was unbelievably generous and kind of you and had a huge impact on my life. I met the most interesting people through you and it enriched my life enormously. Just wish I'd flown to Minnesota to see you one more time.
August 17, 2021
August 17, 2021
Wishing your family, and all your friends, peace and ease and good memories with you. Thank you for your lessons in life and beyond.
August 17, 2018
August 17, 2018
Happy 84th birthday, Benji. Today is a beautiful day! I wish you were still here.
August 17, 2017
August 17, 2017
Benji was part of my extended family. The family had accepted her as my sister and everybody was always happy when she came. She leaves a big hole in my heart.
August 30, 2016
August 30, 2016
Benji, it is hard to believe you have been gone for two years as of today! I think of you so often, and think of things I want to tell you because I know they would make you laugh. You have the best laugh. I even miss the favorite stories that you told me over & over & over. You had a amazing life, dear sister, and I will miss you forever.
August 19, 2016
August 19, 2016
I miss Benji and think of her often. Wish I had visited her in Minnesota.
October 12, 2015
October 12, 2015
I was privileged to be a student grantee at the East-West Center during some of its best times -- the mid-to-late 1970s.Benji was in her prime throughout that era, and she always was a wonderful presence who cared deeply about three things -- the student program, Indonesia (and especially its gamelan music), and cultural interchange. I cannot think of just one "Benji story," but I do know for sure she really stood out and made a difference in shaping the Center across several decades.
August 17, 2015
August 17, 2015
Happy Birthday, Benji! I love you and miss you. I still think of you so often--of things I want to tell you or show you, and places we could go for lunch. I miss our 3x a week card games too! I wish we had more time together.
December 22, 2014
December 22, 2014
E hoa, in this year of your passing I send a light of creativity and courage, a flower of peace and a note of gratitude for your manaakitanga and grace
arohanui na Reihana (MacDonald) Robinson
arohanui na Reihana (MacDonald) Robinson
December 21, 2014
December 21, 2014
WE(NORMAN AND LETTY) WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER BENJI IN OUR STAY AT THE EWC....MORE THAN 35 YEARS AGO BEV AND GREG TRIVONOFICH GAVE US A BABY SHOWER BEFORE THE BIRTH OF LEON - OUR ONE AND ONLY CHILD - ...TO OUR SURPRISE, HER GIFT WAS A VERY BEAUTIFUL BLANKET QUILTED BY OUR DEAR FRIEND BENJI HERSELF...WE PLAN TO GIVE THIS BLANKET AND OUR OWN BLANKET TO OUR FIRST GRAND CHILD ANNA AT OUR CHRISTMAS GATHERING 2O14...BENJI .....OUR DEAR EWC SISTER..... YOU ARE ALWAYS IN OUR HEART...GOD BLESS YOU...REST IN PEACE ..................
October 8, 2014
October 8, 2014
I was a graduate student at the East West Center and at UH from 2002-2004, and worked with Benji, Bill, Lynne, and Pattie, and Michael was just hired! And Benji was a Grand Dame of sorts, consulting on exhibits, offering her wealth of knowledge and contacts with the arts all over the world to the East West Center. The Arts Center was part of my ohana and is to this day, and Benji was a big part of that. Thank you Benji. Blessings to you and those who love you.
October 3, 2014
October 3, 2014
Hello, I'm Beverly Bennington Gruber. I'm Paul Bennington's daughter and niece to Martha, Carol and Benji. Aunt Benji was my father's sister. I knew her as a great artist who lived in the tropical paradise Hawaii.
My earliest memories of Aunt Benji was when I learned she had painted the abstract horses on the wall on our living room. To this day I've incorporated her abstract style into my own art. It is a simplistic energy with every horse being captured with a magnificent brush stroke. Benji was a truly inspirational artist.
Through my Aunt Benji the world was opened up to me. My sister Bren went off to college in Hawaii and lived with Aunt Benji. Bren and Aunt Benji kept in constant contact with me and I realized through their adventures there was a whole world outside Portage, Indiana. It was because of them I ventured out to the West coast and met my husband.
Aunt Benji was a scholar, a historian and a host to dignitaries that visited Hawaii yet took the time from her overwhelming schedule to welcome me and my fiancé to Hawaii. She showed us around and I guess her time was well spent as Benji attended and blessed us at our wedding on Maui in 2000.
I'll love my Aunt Benji forever. She has been a profound influence on my life and the nicest, giving, selfless person I've ever known. I love you Aunt Benji! I always will. Beverly
My earliest memories of Aunt Benji was when I learned she had painted the abstract horses on the wall on our living room. To this day I've incorporated her abstract style into my own art. It is a simplistic energy with every horse being captured with a magnificent brush stroke. Benji was a truly inspirational artist.
Through my Aunt Benji the world was opened up to me. My sister Bren went off to college in Hawaii and lived with Aunt Benji. Bren and Aunt Benji kept in constant contact with me and I realized through their adventures there was a whole world outside Portage, Indiana. It was because of them I ventured out to the West coast and met my husband.
Aunt Benji was a scholar, a historian and a host to dignitaries that visited Hawaii yet took the time from her overwhelming schedule to welcome me and my fiancé to Hawaii. She showed us around and I guess her time was well spent as Benji attended and blessed us at our wedding on Maui in 2000.
I'll love my Aunt Benji forever. She has been a profound influence on my life and the nicest, giving, selfless person I've ever known. I love you Aunt Benji! I always will. Beverly
September 29, 2014
September 29, 2014
What Mother Ginger is to the Nutcracker, Benji was to the Gamelan at UH. She was one of the first people I met when I came to the EWC and UH in 1975, and will always be part of my memories of happy times spent there. Thank you Benji for sharing yourself with us.
September 20, 2014
September 20, 2014
I only met Benji once at her sister Martha's home for Christmas but enjoyed her company very much and found her to be a very nice and pleasant lady. I am Martha's mother in law.
September 9, 2014
September 9, 2014
What a marvelous tribute to such a fine woman. Benji would be so proud. I hope Benji has a map because I know that she is enjoying traveling all four corners of the world. She was a remarkable and fascinating woman and we will miss her spirit and spark! It was an honor and a privilege to serve her. Safe travels Benji and continue to light the world for us! I love the story of how she landed in Hawaii...next time I run into a cross roads like that, I just might borrow her method. What a great story!- Sini Ross
September 7, 2014
September 7, 2014
I have known Benji only indirectly, through family members, but I can attest how very fond they were of her. They valued her talents and contributions, and I know Benji will be missed from their family circle.
September 6, 2014
September 6, 2014
Benji and I started at the East-West Center (Honolulu, Hawai'i) in 1962; she was a staff member and I was an eager MA student. Our careers took us "across the street" from one another—she at the EWC and I at the University of Hawai'i. We have shared a lot of travels, adventures, triumphs, and tragedies over some six decades. One of my most unforgettable images of Benji comes from Burma, where she "held court" at the foot of a stupa in Pagan, waiting for us more mobile types (Vicky, Dan, and me) to return from climbing up and down yet another pagoda. She was surrounded by curious little kids who watched solemnly as she sketched these monuments that were their heritage. They crowded around her as she showed and narrated her sketches, a veritable mother hen with a dozen or so little chicks—all fascinated by this big lady who could "take pictures without a camera." Benji was always good at making contact, even without language. She remains a strong presence and a great friend for my personal journey. Me ke aloha poina 'ole, Benj.
September 4, 2014
September 4, 2014
My most vivid and pivotal childhood memory of my cousin,Benji happened while attending Carole's wedding at Uncle Hank's and Aunt Lib's iconic home in Canada in the 1950's.Benji made a bouquet of flowers; bluebells, roses, daisies, and subtler wildflowers out of bits of ribbon, twine, and wrapping paper that other people had discarded to decorate her gift to the couple.For me, this "decoration" was the greater gift. I believe that this is my first conscious memory of the trans formative power of art. I am in awe of Benji.
September 3, 2014
September 3, 2014
As Benji's niece, I am so grateful to her for letting me live with her for 3 1/2 years in Honolulu then in Kaneohe, so I could finish my college education at the Univ. of Hawaii. Benji was so generous, kind and friendly, and I was surrounded by fascinating people and tantalizing Asian food. Benji sewed dresses for me. She flew to California 25 years ago and told me I was like a daughter to her. Her death leaves a big hole in my heart.
September 3, 2014
September 3, 2014
I'm Benji's niece also - the oldest of her brother Pauls six children. I remember Benji jetting in and out of O'Hare airport and us picking her up and taking her and her visits to our house - many times with friends from other countries. She did make us aware that there was life outside of Gary, Indiana - our home town. Particularly to my sister Bren who went to Hawaii to finish her college education and then like Benji went in to the Peace Corps. Benji influenced her tremendously. Rest in peace Benji.
Leave a Tribute
Recent Tributes
August 17, 2023
August 17, 2023
Remembering your jovial loveliness and generosity Benji, and miss you.
August 17, 2021
August 17, 2021
Missing you today Benji. Giving me a place to live for 3 1/2 years while I was a poor undergraduate student at UH was unbelievably generous and kind of you and had a huge impact on my life. I met the most interesting people through you and it enriched my life enormously. Just wish I'd flown to Minnesota to see you one more time.
August 17, 2021
August 17, 2021
Wishing your family, and all your friends, peace and ease and good memories with you. Thank you for your lessons in life and beyond.
Gallery
Benji on the beach with her family.
Benji with her brother, Paul.
Benji with her brother Paul and sisters Martha and Carole.
40th reunion of Mather College Class of 1957. Standing-Carol Bansberg Schiller, Benji, Laura Colvin Anfang, Ann Caywood Brown. Seated-Louise Elconin Rosoff, Sue Kovacs Sicherman, Pat Winter Raeder
2002
Recent stories
Martha's Eulogy
October 26, 2014
OMG Martha! I just read the eulogy and learned so much about Aunt Benji that I didn't know! You are such a talented story teller and the ending made me cry. I hope I can be there for my sisters like you were for Benji. God bless sisters! Rest in peace Benji.
September 30, 2014
This is Benji's Indonesian sister, Nasti, and her family: Harun, Lita, Rasjid and nephew Emir in 1973
How Benji Got to Hawaii
September 2, 2014
This is a story I know very well, because I'm her sister and I was there at the start!
Benji began her career as an Art teacher at Roosevelt Jr High School in Cleveland, Ohio. As much as she loved teaching and her life in Cleveland, she longed for an adventure! She wanted to do something new and exciting before settling down to a regular and predictable life in the American Midwest. So she came up with a plan. A doozy of a plan.
She would apply to the Peace Corps, and to a fine arts program at the University of Hawaii, and the University of Mexico—and then go to whichever place answered her application first! It woud be like a horse race and a lottery, all in one.
I remember sitting at the big dining table of our house in Grimsby with Benji and my mom and dad as she showed us her three filled out applications, and explained her simple plan. She would mail all three applications from the same post office on the same day, and let fate decide where she went. I thought she was brave and brilliant! My dad thought she was a little bit nuts, but both my parents understood her need to break out and do something big and unexpected. Something bold and adventurous. So that very afternoon the applications were all mailed, at once, and the waiting began.
You all know the ending to this story. Fate chose Hawaii! The University of Hawaii was the first institution to mail an acceptance, and Benji was off to paradise!
Fate chose well! Benji loved Hawaii, and Hawaii loved her back. Soon after she arrived in Honolulu she got a part time job at a little start-up organization called the East-West Center. Fate transformed into Destiny then, because Benji loved the East West Center passionately! She devoted her life to building, supporting, creating, advising and just being a part of the wonderful EWC. I think the EWC will never know a more staunch supporter. She loved everything about the EWC and every person who was a part of it.
---Story told by Benji’s little sister, Martha. I love you, Benji!
(That's me on the right of the photo, and Benji leaning on one of the abstract paintings that she used as part of her application to the Fine Arts progrm at U of Hawaii.)