Dawn Adams Benjamin, 92;
Worked At Huntington Library
ONEONTA – Dawn Adams Benjamin, 92, a former clerk at the Huntington Library who raised eight children outside Oneonta, died peacefully on Feb. 26, 2019 at Fox Nursing Home in Oneonta.
A number of weeks before, Dawn fell and broke her hip at her residence at St. James Manor, where she had lived for five years. Prior to that, Dawn lived in Otego for eight years, but she lived the bulk of her life in the big country house outside Oneonta where she and her beloved husband raised their children from the mid-1950s on.
Dawn Adams Benjamin was born on Jan. 10, 1927, in Binghamton, to Isabelle Adams Russell and Hanford Russell. She graduated from high school in Binghamton, after which, at age 19, Dawn Adams Russell married Richard Leroy Benjamin on Nov. 1, 1946.
Over the next 17 years she gave birth to eight children, whom she and Dick did a remarkable job of raising into caring, responsible, interesting individuals.
Dawn worked for many years as a clerk at Huntington Memorial Library in Oneonta. But her most important role in life was caring for her family and her husband. Her wonderful caregiving was infused with her personal passions which included reading, walking, and gardening. When she got “a minute alone” she loved to go to her bedroom alone and read a good book.
Dawn is survived by six children: Gail Pearce of Sachse, Texas; Richard Benjamin and his wife Barbara of Portlandville; Kay Benjamin and her partner Jean Blackburn of Norwich; Bruce Benjamin and his wife Alice of West Davenport; Carol Wood and her husband Robert of Oneonta; David Benjamin and his partner Cathy Runkle of Santa Barbara, Calif; daughter-in-law Margaret Benjamin of Laurens; and son-in-law Leon Beach of Oneonta. She is also survived by her sister and brother, Valery Hardy and Dale Russell, both of Binghamton, and by ten grandchildren, fourteen great grandchildren, three nieces and nephews.
Dawn was predeceased by her husband Richard, her parents Isabelle and Hanford Russell, her daughter Janet Beach, and her son Eric Benjamin.
There will be a memorial luncheon 12:30 p.m. Thursday, March at 9 St. James Place, just outside Oneonta. Feel free to join the family and Dawn’s friends at the Manor for a time to remember her and look at photos from her life.
Arrangements are entrusted to the Bookhout Funeral Home.