Arthur Benham

Arthur George Benham

January 16, 1926 - October 26, 2014

After 88 years of enjoying life to the fullest, Arthur died peacefully at his home in San Carlos, CA on October 26, 2014
Arthur was born on January 16, 1926 in Healdsburg, CA to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Daniel Benham (Ruth Edna Church). He attended grammar school in San Francisco and then attended high school in Rio Vista where he graduated from in 1944. He then joined the Navy, graduated from midshipmen school at Columbia University in New York City and joined World War II in the Pacific shortly before World War II ended. After WW II, he attended the University of California at Berkeley where he was a member of the AKL fraternity and graduated with a BS in Business Administration. He then joined the Hearst Corporation in San Francisco where he served in various management positions in advertising for 38 years. After retiring in 1988, he volunteered at the San Francisco Attorney General's Office (fraud unit) for 10 years.
In 1950 Arthur was married to Mary H. Benham and had two daughters - Sharon and Alanna. The family lived initially in Palo Alto, CA before moving to a home in west Menlo Park that Arthur helped design and build. After 20 years in Menlo Park he moved to San Carlos where he resided until his death.
Arthur enjoyed many friendships as he loved people and people loved him. He was "one of a kind" and blessed with a wonderful sense of humor. He knew many jokes and told them well. He had a love for life and adventure and experiencing new people and places. He enjoyed traveling and did so frequently-there being very few places in the world that he had not been-at least once. He enjoyed the new cultures and learning the languages of his destinations. He remained active his entire life-playing tennis on a regular basis until age 88. He had a thirst for learning new things and was a voracious reader especially of history, culture and languages.
He is survived by his wife of 40 years Adrienne H. Benham of San Carlos, CA; daughter Sharon Benham Kelly and son-in-law Thomas W. Kelly of Manhattan Beach, CA; Alanna Benham Dittoe and son-in-law John E. Dittoe of Piedmont, CA; Kirstin Dittoe Cicero and grandson-in-law Robert James Cicero of Hoboken, NJ and great-grandson John ("Jack") Robert Cicero of Hoboken, NJ whose October 7, 2014 birth gave Arthur much joy, just a few weeks before his death.
There will be a private family service. In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Society (www.cff.org) or The American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org/donate).