Dorene Esther Benson

September 9, 1911 - April 2, 2011

Dorene Esther Benson Dorene Esther Benson was born on September 9, 1911 in Capital, Montana at the home of a midwife who was also the town’s Postmistress. Her parents were Don and Anna Perrin who were among the pioneer settlers of Devil’s Basin near Roundup. She was raised and educated in Roundup, Montana, graduating from high school there in 1930. After attending “Normal School” (teacher’s training) in Billings, she returned to Roundup where she taught in a one-room country school house located on the Jensvold ranch outside of Roundup. Dorene married Elvin Byrd in 1934 and had two sons Gary and Arlen. She and Elvin divorced in 1939. She married Sidney (Ted) Benson in 1940 and had two daughters, Evalee and Delores. She and her husband operated a cattle ranch along the Little Bitterroot River near Hot Springs. In 1955 they sold the ranch and moved to Crescent City, California where Dorene taught school for several years. Following retirement in 1977, they moved to Hood River, Oregon, where her husband died in 1988. In 1994 she moved to Payette, Idaho and later to Newberg, Oregon in 2005. On Saturday, April 2, 2011, Dorene Esther Benson died at a local foster home when she was ninety-nine years, six months and twenty-two days of age. She was preceded in death by her husband Ted and her six siblings. She is survived by her two sons; Gary and his wife Helen Benson of Vancouver, Washington and Arlen and his wife Elaine Benson of Newberg, Oregon; two daughters, Evalee and her husband Tom Nace of Bartlesville, Oklahoma and Dolores Tracer of Silverdale, Washington; twelve grandchildren; thirty-three great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; one sister in-law, Helen Perrin; numerous nieces and nephews and those who have come to know and appreciate her where she has lived and worked. Her Graveside Service will be Friday, April 8, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. in Plains Cemetery, Plains, Montana. Her Memorial Service will be held Saturday, April 30, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. in Family life Church, Newberg. Arrangements are in the care of Attrell's Newberg Funeral Chapel, a Golden Rule Funeral Home. Online condolences may be made at www.attrells.com Because of her interest in overseas missions and education, a school was built in her honor in Orissa, India for the children of lepers. Memorial contributions may be mailed to: Good News India, Attn: Dorene B. School, PO Box 72747, Pheonix, AZ 85050.