Verna Marie Benz

Verna Marie Benz

revered by her family and a wide circle of friends for her vitality, charm and devotion to her loved ones, died Dec. 25, 2009 in Acton, MA. at the age of 89 after a prolonged illness. The daughter of Martin Aloysius and Mary Louise King Cuddyre, she was born in 1920 in Pittsburgh, PA. She graduated from St. Mary of the Mount High School, where she met her future husband, Edward J. Benz, Sr., M.D., and received an associate degree in business from Robert Morris College. She was employed by Maryland Casualty Insurance Company and Carnegie Illinois Steel Company prior to her marriage to Dr. Benz on June 20, 1945. For the next several years, Mrs. Benz and her husband lived in Long Island, Brooklyn and Rochester, MN, while he completed his residency in pathology and military service. In 1953 they settled in Bethlehem, PA., where he served as Chief of Pathology at St. Luke's Hospital and she became active in community service and leadership. After 52 years in Bethlehem, they moved to Acton to be closer to family. Mrs. Benz contributed to her community by service in numerous organizations, among them the Board of Trustees and Ladies Aid of St. Luke's Hospital, the Northampton County Medical Society Medical Auxiliary, and the Boy's Club of Bethlehem. She was a member of the Bethlehem Club and the Saucon Valley Country Club. In addition, she served as Chair of the Annual Charity Ball, a major fund raiser for the disadvantaged in the community. Admired as a wife, mother, hostess, and friend wherever she lived, she is remembered fondly most of all for her warmth, her kindness, and her ability to befriend instantly almost everyone she met.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Benz is survived by her children, Edward J. Benz, Jr., M.D. and wife Margaret Vettese of Boston, Thomas J. Benz and wife Margaret Glah of London, U.K., Gregory P. Benz and Ann Greenburg of Owings Mills, MD., Mary Louise Johansen and husband John of Westford, MA., and by 12 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, and 11 nephews and nieces, including Mrs. Lois Wilson of Cincinnati, to whom she was especially close.

Services have been entrusted to Connell Funeral Home, Inc. Bethlehem.

The family will receive friends at Church of the Assumption B.V.M., Colesville; 4101 Old Bethlehem Pike, Bethlehem PA 18015 on Saturday, January 9, 2010 from 9-10 AM with a Mass of Christian Burial to immediately follow.

In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make memorial contributions in Mrs. Benz's name to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Attn: Development Room BP 635, 10 Brookline Place, Brookline, MA. 02445.