Beverly Parkin Benz
July 15, 1930-Jan. 3, 2012
Menlo Park, California

Beverly P. Benz, age 81, passed away peacefully in her home on January 3, 2012, in Santa Rosa.

Born in San Francisco, she was the daughter of DeEtte and Richard Parkin and sister of Richard Parkin.

She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Frederick D. Benz, and three of her five children: Fredrick R. Benz, Pamela A. Benz and Andrew D. Benz and daughter in laws Robbe Benz and Cathy Benz. She was the loving and caring grandmother to eleven grandchildren; Karen, Tyler, Jeffery, Spenser, Scott, Madyson, Grant, Nate, Alex, Crystal, and Jaquelyn.

After graduating UC Berkeley in 1951 with a major in International Studies, Beverly joined the Foreign Service and worked for the US Ambassador at the US embassy in London, England, and Dublin, Ireland.

After returning to the United States in 1954, she married and started to raise a family. She lived in a number of cities in San Mateo County but settled in Menlo Park where she lived for over 50 years.

For the next 30+ years, she ran a day care and when she decided to retire, she joined Ace Hardware to keep in touch with friends in the community. For many years she enjoyed traveling with her husband and visited a number of sites throughout Europe, Asia, China and Russia. She loved this time in her life and was able to remember all the beautiful sites she visited while in the Foreign Service.

Friends and family are invited to attend her funeral service on Saturday, January 28, 2012, at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo at 1 PM.

Tags: public service