Mary M. Benson

1947 - 2025

Mary M. Benson
Born: January 14, 1947 in DeKalb, IL
Died: April 2, 2025 in DeKalb, IL
Mary Martha Benson passed on April 2, 2025, and was surrounded by her family. She was a fun-loving conversationalist, an intellectual who enjoyed analysing psychological ideas, and a very determined person. She survived polio at 2 years old with the expectation of living with leg braces, at best, but she proved them wrong. She received regular physical therapy and support from her family. She never gave up.
As she grew older, she was an entertainer and dancer at heart. She and her friends put on shows at the Cortland Town Hall and in school. After retirement, she renewed her passion by writing and putting on skits at Halloween parties and for her friends at TOPS. She enjoyed playing and challenging herself at the piano. Throughout her life she took tap dance, ballroom and even belly dancing. She enjoyed going to the Blue Moon in Elgin or to ballrooms and discotheques in Chicago to dance.
She was married twice. First to Everett L. Mathus then had her daughter Mary Ann, and graduated from NIU in 1968 with B.S. in Education. She taught kindergarten in Zion, IL for 3 years until she had her 2nd daughter, Marie Rene. Mary returned home and went to NIU and earned her M.S. in Education with her focus on Special Education. She moved to Racine, WI after she remarried to John Poysa. During this time she worked at The Cabbage Patch Child Care and loved it. She soon became Administrator.
In 1989, Post Polio Syndrome entered her life. Mary had to step down from her Administration position in 1993 and moved home to Cortland, IL. She joined the Cortland Library Board in 1994 and remained a member until 2020. She was always a passionate reader and carried a book wherever she went.
Mary is survived by her brother Robert (Frankie) Benson and nephew Jeremy, daughter Mary Ann Mathus (Libby Witty), grandsons Brandon Skau and Bryan Skau (Kirsten Holt) and 6 great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents Frank and Mary J. Benson and her daughter, Marie Mathus.