Terri Bensch

The spirit of Theresa Sue (Terri) Bensch (nee Schirtzinger) peacefully departed her body on May 29, 2023, at Hospice of the Chesapeake, Pasadena, Maryland. Terri was preceded by the family who raised her -- mother, Pauline Schirtzinger; aunt and uncle, Fred and Betty Reiner; grandmother, Theresa Zwilling; and brother, Tom Luft. She is survived by her husband, Tim Bensch; her daughter, Katie Bensch (Dan Krivonak), grandson Gavin Smit; her son, Peter Bensch (Rita Flaherty); and by the hundreds of students with whom she shared her love of music and art.

If one were to choose a single word to describe Terri, it would have to be "passion."

Terri was passionate about Life and Enjoying Life. True to her official Capital University Chapel Choir title of "Miss Sunshine," she was the life of the room wherever she went. People were attracted to the way she danced with abandon and loved to laugh - and in her 60s she would frequently be told by young adults at the Annapolis street-music parties she loved to attend that they wanted to be 'just like her when they grew up'. Terri remained the life of the party even during her hospice care - sporting a zebra-striped Rollator with flashing flower-shaped lights, smiling and laughing with the team providing her care, sharing her artwork with friends, and with big smiles and hugs to her hospice team.

Terri was passionate about music and art education. She touched countless lives during her nearly thirty years of teaching music, art, and directing children's choirs. It was not uncommon at chance meetings with one of her former students to hear that Ms. Terri's music and art classes had opened a whole new world - as she passionately introduced her students and their families to Jazz, Musical Theater, and Contemporary Art and Artists, in addition to the standard General Music and Art curricula. The children's choirs Terri directed (supported by her trusty accompanist and sidekick, Tim) at St. Catherine's (Bexley, OH) and at Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Matthias Apostle, St. Joseph's, and Holy Family churches (Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, MD) were focal points for faith, service, and joyful celebration in those parishes.

As her lifelong, but late to be diagnosed, medical condition took an increasing toll on her health and energy, Terri left her beloved Music Educator career, but continued to celebrate art with a focus on botanical watercolor painting. glass-fusing and flower gardening. She also became an informal advocate / educator about the value of alternative healing treatments and remedies. She was passionate about the benefits of Medical Cannabis, Herbal Remedies and energy healing, Acupuncture, and Integrative Manual Therapy. Terri shared information about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a set of genetic connective tissue disorders with which she was finally diagnosed at the age of 60, with people everywhere she went. She was passionate in her desire to make people aware of this not-rare, but rarely-diagnosed, condition -- understanding that knowledge of EDS earlier in her life would have made a huge difference and prevented the dreadful results of misdiagnoses and improper treatment. She prepared info packets to share with others, attended training in the EDS Society's ECHO Program, and told hundreds of people about EDS.

Terri was passionate about her family, those with whom she grew up; her husband, children, and grandson; and the new families that assembled around her over the years. In the last year of her life, she celebrated in a special way her family of loving caregivers from Hospice of the Chesapeake, healers (Stacy Keith, Lynayn Mielki, Sean Rose, Bonnie Parry), and 'sisters from another mother' (Mary Henriques and Andrea Larkin) who were (and are) such a blessing to Terri and Tim.

We are confident that Terri is passionately celebrating a new chapter of her life - beyond the pain and suffering of her earthly body. In celebration of her many passions, Terri's family asks that you:

- Attend a concert, jazz club or musical theater performance with family or friends - and dance in the aisles or sing your favorite piece all the way home,

- Revel in the beauty of visual art and gardens of any kind, and create some of your own to share with others,

- Learn about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in case you know or meet someone living with EDS so that you can better understand and support them in their needs,

- Look for real healers - people who may be in the medical profession or may be practitioners of alternative forms of healing - and truly appreciate the blessings and gifts they provide,

- In lieu of flowers, consider donating to Hospice of the Chesapeake Foundation, Pasadena, MD - www.hospicechesapeake.org