Lucille (Forest) Benson

CHESHIRE - Lucille (Forest) Benson, 80, of Cheshire and Wayne, Maine, died Monday, Jan. 28, 2008, at Southington Care Center. She was the loving wife of the late Clarence "Mutt" Benson. She was a Cheshire resident for 56 years.

Mrs. Benson was born in Rumford, Maine, April 10, 1927, the daughter of Rene and Isabelle (Ouellette) Forest. She was raised in Augusta, Maine and graduated from Mount Merici Academy, a boarding school for young ladies in Waterville, Maine. She received her B.S. degree from Farmington State Teachers College (University of Maine at Farmington). Later, she completed graduate studies for her master's at Southern Connecticut State College and St. Joseph's College in West Hartford. She taught 22 years in Cheshire and Prospect before retiring in 1991. Teaching adolescents was a lifelong passion that she found very rewarding and challenging.
In her early years, she particularly enjoyed her work at the radio station, WOWW, in Naugatuck where she was the women's editor and had a show called "News and Notes". After her retirement she dabbled in a small business of selling antiques in the state of Maine where she and her husband spent six months of the year at their summer house in Wayne, which they dearly loved.

Mrs. Benson is survived by her five children, Tracy Benson of Cheshire, Maurice Benson of Waterbury, Laurie (Benson) Hanley and her husband, John, of Amherst, Mass., Craig Benson and his wife, Doreen, of Durham, Elizabeth Benson of Waterbury; and four grandchildren.

Besides her husband of 53 years, she was predeceased by her twin sister, Louise (Forest) Martin, formerly of Watertown.

A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Holy Angels Catholic Church, 585 Main St., South Meriden. Friends are asked to meet directly at the Church prior to Mass. Burial will follow at Hillside Cemetery in Cheshire. There are no calling hours. Slater Funeral Home, 242 South Main St., Cheshire is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Cheshire Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 7, Cheshire, CT 06410; or The Lustgarten Foundation For Pancreatic Cancer Research, 1111 Stewart Ave., Bethpage, N.Y., 11714 (www.lustgarten.org). These arrangements and online condolences are available at www.slaterfh.com