Town native remembers Lenox of her childhood

LENOX – A town native, Mary Benjamin, 89, remembers playing as a child in the woods where Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center now stands.

Her late father, Francis McDermott, worked as an electrician and her late mother, Elizabeth (Hunter) McDermott, was a hairdresser. The family, which also included her brother, lived on Housatonic Street.

Her parents eventually divorced and Mrs. Benjamin went to live with her grandmother, she said.

Mrs. Benjamin remembers very clearly what Lenox was like in those days. A lot of people had gardens and there were no paved sidewalks in town. Neighbors helped each other.

Lenox was a frugal town

“It was a very frugal town,” Mrs. Benjamin said. “And if you were a newcomer here, you were dirt,” she said, laughing at the memory.

She lived through the difficult Depression years.

“It was hard,” she said. “We grew up struggling.

“No one had a new pair of shoes,” she added. “When I was in the fifth grade, a fellow didn’t come to school.”

The reason was his pants were very worn and there was no way for his family to replace them. Finally, his teacher sent him to the store to buy pants and she footed the bill, Mrs. Benjamin said.

She married William “Bill” Casey and they had a son, Bruce, and a daughter, Susan. (They are now both in their 60s.)

The marriage ended in divorce.

Mrs. Benjamin said she eventually met a widower, Herbert Benjamin, who was of German descent.

Moved from Lenox to New York

“I fell in love with him right away,” she said.

They married and left Lenox. They moved to Rensselaer, N.Y., where they lived for 35 years.

She said during that time away, she missed a lot of things about Lenox, including seeing the mansions that are part of the town.

Her late husband had a tendency to move very slowly so her nickname for him was “Speed.”  They were married for 45 years.

When his health began to fail, they made a huge decision. Mrs. Benjamin wanted to return to the place she always considered her home, namely, Lenox.

Her husband died five years ago at age 94.

“He had a long life,” she said. “He was a very strong man.”

She has a great sense of humor

Mrs. Benjamin has a great sense of humor and finds a way to laugh over just about everything. For instance, she said she hates her name.

“Mary Margaret,” she said. “It sounds like it’s for a little kid.”

She’s a little bit of a woman, weighing just 78 pounds and standing less than five feet tall.

“One hundred and twenty seven pounds was my biggest weight,” she said.

The Beacon asked her if she was in good health.

“I have everything wrong with me,” she quipped.

She has osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and some indigestion. Her eyesight is still good but she has some trouble hearing. Despite all her health problems, Mrs. Benjamin appears to maintain a spirit of feistiness.

She still does all her own housekeeping except for vacuuming. Her daughter helps with her laundry and she’s signed up to get Meals on Wheels, she said.

Two years ago she fell off the front porch and broke her hip. She spent two months at Kimball Farms.

“I had a grand time down there,” Mrs. Benjamin said.

Her daughter, Susan Cahalan, married at Blantyre Castle.

“I thought I died and went to heaven,” the proud mother said, remembering the beauty of that special day.

Rarely sleeps

Mrs. Benjamin said she never sleeps and is often up for the day at 4 a.m. Throughout her life, she was a homemaker and also did lots of volunteer work. These days she said she watches her favorite history channel on television. She also enjoys mysteries.

She loves to socialize with her friends, including one lady who will turn 100 years old in January.

“I talk to her on the phone once a week,” she said.

Mrs. Benjamin attributes her long life to always keeping active.  She loved swimming and walking and still walks frequently to the former Curtis Hotel and back home again.

She now has three grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

When she was a little girl, Mrs. Benjamin said she had only one little black doll.

Collected antique dolls

As an adult, she began collecting antique dolls and, at one time, had a total of 11 of them.  Some cost in the range of $500.

Today, she has five antique dolls left, four girls and one boy doll. She is hoping to sell them, preferably to a private dealer with an affection for such special dolls.

“I’ve reached a time in my life to weed out,” she said.

The old-fashioned dolls, dating from the early 1900s, have long curly hair, original outfits and darling facial expressions. One doll, named Sarah, sits in a small rocking chair that belonged to Mrs. Benjamin’s mother. The boy doll’s name is Robert.

Her grandchildren were all for sports, Mrs. Benjamin said, but none of them had any interest in her dolls.

Anyone who would like to inquire about buying the dolls, which are quite pricey, can call Mary Margaret Benjamin directly at (413) 637-8974.

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on September 27, 2012. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry