Inka Benton

1918 - 2015

Inka (Aronson) Benton 1918 - 2015 Inka (Aronson) Benton, architect and distinguished activist, was born on August 6, 1918, in Warsaw, Poland. After her parents' divorce she lived with her mother and Italian step-father. She received an education with governesses, tutors and at Belgian boarding schools. Summering in Italy as a teenager, she met the love of her life, Hale Benton. At age 14 her grandmother in Warsaw gave her a more settled home. Her interests focused on architecture and she studied in a Polish technical program. In the early months of World War II, after experiencing the German firebombing of Warsaw, Inka escaped to Italy and, with the help of relatives, sailed from Genoa on the last ship for America. She reached New York City where Hale's mother helped her through the tangle of Ellis Island. In 1941, she married Hale Benton. An American, Hale was born in Rome, where his father was the business manager for the American Academy. Inka pursued a degree in architecture, starting as an undergraduate. In 1945 she was accepted as the only woman in her class of twelve for a Masters of Architecture at Harvard under Walter Gropius. Inka reminisced in 2008 regarding her college credentials: "The school was called the Cambridge Graduate [sic] School of Architecture and I graduated at the top of the class. They said, "We'll forget the fact that you don't have any high school or college degree and we give you a degree." I got a full degree and a scholarship, and went to Harvard. Hale, my husband, used to introduce me as his private architect, a high school drop-out with a Master's Degree from Harvard. Everybody thought he was joking, but that is true and an unusual thing about my education." During the war, Inka worked for Steuben Glass designing elegant glass pieces and as a draftperson at an architectural office. At the end of the war in 1946 when Hale returned from the Army in the Pacific, the young couple took a road trip to California with Hale's mother and two sisters. Their destination was a cabin owned by a friend in San Rafael on an unpaved road with no running water or electricity. The young couple decided to stay in California and bought the old place with a $5,000 down payment, paying off the remainder at $50 a month. Inka's architectural skills were put to good use transforming their Bret Harte home over the next fifty years. In subsequent years Inka worked as a San Rafael planner. She then worked as an independent architect and in the San Francisco office of Ernest Born. In addition to architectural work, Inka assisted in the graphics for Plan of St. Gall, illustrated by Born. During the summer when Hale had vacation from his teaching, Inka designed an ingenious camper conversion for a VW bus, which they constructed together. They used it extensively for adventurous vacations in Mexico and Central America during the 1950s and 60s. She also designed a retreat house in Big Sur that they built of wood salvaged from war surplus housing. After Hale died in 1967, Inka continued to work until 1974, and also devoted much of her time to anti-war, social, and environmental activism. Pursuing her environmental focus, she did post-graduate work in Urban Planning at UC Berkeley. In 1974 at the age of 56, Inka joined the Peace Corps and worked in Iran as a town planner for two years. Finding her own work limited by the Muslim culture's closed attitudes towards women, she expanded her efforts to include photographic storytelling to document her experiences and the challenges of women. In her home community of Marin, Inka served on the board of the Marin Conservation League from 1960 to 1973 and was active in the fight to save West Marin from massive development. She was in the founding class of the Environmental Forum of Marin in 1973. In 1992, she was a delegate to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the U.N.'s first world conference on climate change. Membership in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin and work in the International Relations committee for the Marin League of Women Voters for many years were important aspects of her continued environmental and anti-war commitment. In 2010, she received the Marin Conservation League's Green Award for Environmental Leadership for her lifetime activism. Inka was an avid foreign traveler, sharing her trips for over 40 years in many countries with a number of fortunate friends. Her speaking ability in five languages, family in Europe, South America, and friends in numerous countries, combined with her adventurous spirit, opened a world of destinations. She has had exhibits of her travel photographs and shared her experiences through slide shows at the Unitarian Fellowship, the San Rafael Library and at Aldersly Retirement Community (her home from 2002). In 2008 she hosted a gathering of 100 friends at the Unitarian Fellowship to celebrate her 90th birthday. As one of her closest friends noted that day, "Inka has had a huge life for such a tiny person." Inka Benton died peacefully in San Rafael on February 22, 2015. Her dear friend and cousin Simone Raskin shares this thought: "She is gone and left many memories for many people. Her enthusiasm for life was absolutely contagious and triggered her activism, gave her energy and made so many people love her and want to be like her. Inka made a difference in this world." She leaves no immediate family. Donations can be made in her name to the Ploughshares Fund, or a charity of your choice. A memorial celebration of Inka's long, well-lived life will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at the top of Channing Way in San Rafael on Saturday, April 18, at 3:00 p.m.