Benning Family Reunion 1925

Mildred Wilson (Duffy) Benning was born on March 31, 1899. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Mildred "Duffy" Wilson Benning.

George Lawrence Benning was born to William Joseph Benning (1852 - 1930) and Imogene N. (Millard) Benning (1854 - 1916) in Boone, Iowa. He had 12 siblings: Nelson, Henry, Lois, Cora, Walter Joseph, Isaac, Grace, Arthur, Mabel and Lloyd. He was the youngest. George was married twice and in his second marriage to Eileen Constance (Tasker) Benning had Marian Joyce (Benning) Kroetch. He also had a daughter, Lois (Benning) Ewen, from his first marriage to Mildred (Wilson) Benning. His second family lived first in Seattle, then Portland, then in Bremerton Washington, a small port town which grew during WW2. He owned the Chevrolet car dealership in Bremerton. George and Micky Reed, the owner of the Reed Chevrolet dealership in Bremerton Washington, were on a local river fishing trip and Micky drowned. Micky's widow, Meeka (who I, his granddaughter knew, since she and my grandmother were friends until they died), sold the dealership to George. He called it Reed-Benning dealership as an homage to Micky. Chevrolet didn't like the fact that a woman (oh lordy, a WOMAN!) sold the dealership on her own so they made new rules. The upshot? When George, my grandfather, died, my grandmother couldn't sell the dealership! He was very active in the business, social and political components of the community. I know that he was a Freemason and that he had some strong relationships with State politicians. (Note from his granddaughter: George was good friends with Warren Magnuson, first a US Representative and then a US Senator. Evidently, he used to spend summers at my grandparent's house - I saw a letter of condolence from him to my grandmother when George died, expressing how much he would miss George and referencing the wonderful summers he spent at their house. Also in their social circle? Names that you would recognize today: the Gates' - yes, that Bill Gates family - the Nordstroms , and more. The Seattle/Bremerton community was small then.) One cool story about George: He had a bit of real estate in Bremerton and rented two (?) homes to his employees. Upon George's death his will stipulated that the deeds to the homes get passed along to the employees. Also, the story my Mom (his daugher) told me about the homes - the people weren't employees but simply people who lived in Bremerton at the time. Since George was a Mason, he was also involved in charitable activities. Mom said that no one (including family) knew that he had bought (I heard 3) houses for people who had problems paying rent and were going to be evicted. (This was probably around the end of the Depression.) He didn't charge the tenants rent and when he died (within a few years), he left the homes to the tenants. However, my sister (who says she has a copy of George's will), says that she can find no record of this.

Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Charles Gray.

Marian was born to Paul Los Kamp and Lois Los Kamp (see Benning Family Reunion 1925). She lived in Berkeley, Stockton and Colusa and Placer County California. It looks as though Marian was a dedicated teacher and spent most of her life in Northern California. According to the 1934-1944 California Voter Registrations Miss Marian I Los Kamp lived on Princeton Street in Colusa County California and was a Republican and worked as a teacher. She also had a PO Box 254 on P Street in Placer County California. A note from a younger cousin: When I knew Cousin Marian (she was a cousin of my mother's), I was a young adult in the 1970's. She was a lovely lady and was a dedicated Christian Scientist. I was rather horrified when she told me that as a tenet of her religion, she would have dental work without anesthesia. Ouch! When I married in 1972, she sent me an antique jam spoon (with documentation) purchased from Gumps - an upscale store in San Francisco. She lived in Alameda CA at that time. Reading the above is the first time that I found out that she lived anywhere else! My Aunt Lois (my mother's half-sister) was named after Marian's mother, Lois. Their father was a younger brother of Marian's mother and Lois was his "favorite sister." (Or so I'm told). My mother's first name was Marian - after cousin Marian?