Barbara Benson Golseth

Barbara Benson Golseth November 26, 1919 - December 20, 2008 a resident of Arivaca, AZ, since 2005 and of Tucson since 1954, died of natural causes Saturday, December 20, 2008 at Carivaca Estates. She was 89. Mrs. Golseth was born in New York, NY on November 26, 1919. She was the only child of popular novelist and short-story and screen writer Sally Benson (Meet Me in St. Louis, Junior Miss) and Reynolds Benson. Her father flew in Europe in both world wars and was assistant athletic director of Columbia University. Mrs. Golseth was educated at Horace Mann and private schools in New York. After leaving school, she wrote thumbnail reviews of mysteries for New Yorker magazine and worked as a model for the Powers Agency. Growing up, she was surrounded by literary figures such as James Thurber, E.B. White, Dorothy Parker, Bennett Cerf, Eric Knight, and John Dos Passos. In 1941, she married Alexis Doster, Jr., of Litchfield, CT. First Lieutenant Doster, a paratrooper and O.S.S. (Office of Strategic Services) officer, died in the Middle Eastern Theater in 1943. Mrs. Golseth married Robert W. (Soup) Campbell, Sr., of Boston, MA, in 1946. Then Lieutenant-Commander Campbell was a decorated veteran of the Pacific War and one of Dartmouth College's best-known hockey players. Mrs. Golseth and Mr. Campbell were divorced in 1959. During the late 1950's and 1960's, Mrs. Golseth was the editor of the society section of the Arizona Daily Star and entertained readers of the "In and About Tucson" column with her perceptive and often humorous reviews of events around the Old Pueblo. Before joining the Star, she was the co-editor, with June Caldwell Martin, of the University of Arizona's alumni magazine. She left the Star in 1965 to spend a year in the south of France with her three younger children. In 1966, she married Ralph G. Golseth of Tucson and Danville, IL. Mr. Golseth died in 1986. One of the great Master's swimmers of her time, Mrs. Golseth won three world-championship gold medals during a 40 year career, in Sidney, Australia; Beijing, China; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the last at age 75. Over much of that period, she dominated her age group, winning many events around the U.S. and elsewhere. Finding that the Tucson YWCA had no swimming pool, in the late 1950s she convinced a reluctant Tucson YMCA to make room for women in their indoor pool. Later she trained at the University of Arizona. She was a member of the Tucson Racquet Club for more than 50 years. Mrs. Golseth is survived by her children, Alexis (Dusty) Doster III, of Annaplois, MD, and Tucson, Sara T. Campbell, of Croton-on-Hudson, NY, Robert W. Campbell Jr., of Tubac, and Susan Campbell Ramsey, of Arivaca; seven grandchildren (another, Joshua B. Ramsey, of Tucson, died in Eritrea, in Africa, in 2002) and five great-grandchildren. GREEN VALLEY MORTUARY, Green Valley, AZ is handling arrangements. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Carivaca Estates, P. O. Box 534, Arivaca, AZ 85601.