Mary BENBOW ARKENS

1931 - 2020

BENBOW ARKENS, Mary Virginia "Ginny" Mary Virginia Benbow Arkens, passed away July 2020, age 89. Born in Campbellsville, Kentucky, in 1931 to Anne and Dwight Elliott. Virginia or "Ginny" weighed only 1 1/2 pounds at birth. She grew up in Dayton and was a 1949 graduate of Wilbur Wright High School. A graduate of Miami University, Ms. Arkens taught briefly in the Dayton School district but spent most of her 30-year teaching career teaching first grade at Harry Russell School in West Carrollton. She and her husband, Kent Benbow, retired to North Carolina in 1990, where they were active members of Trinity Presbyterian Church where she taught at the church preschool. She is preceded in death by her husband, Kent Benbow, who died in 1998. In 2003, Ginny married Henry Arkens, who preceded her in death in 2007. Virginia is survived by her son, Dr. Mark Benbow and his wife, Annette of Lincolnia, Virginia, two nieces, Lynn Kovacs Hayes of Beavercreek, Ohio and Jane Getty Nolan of Columbus, Ohio, a nephew, David Getty of Texas, and stepson, Charles Arkens and stepdaughter, Collette Arkens, both of Wisconsin. A lifelong devoted teacher, she will be fondly remembered by her many students. Services will be held after the COVID-19 emergency has passed. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Blue Ridge Humane Society, 88 Centipede Lane, Hendersonville, NC 28792.