Carole Jean Benkelman

1951 - 2023  (71 years)

• Name	Carole Jean Benkelman  [1, 2]
  Born	26 Oct 1951	Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan   [1, 2]
  Gender	Female
  Died	19 Jan 2023	Saint Johns, Clinton County, Michigan
  Buried	Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan
  Notes	Carole was born in Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, but was brought home to her parents apartment in East Lansing, very close to Michigan State University, where her parents were living at the time. In January, 1999, her mother wrote of her eldest daughter, "Lives in St. Johns, Michigan with her husband, a radio station engineer, yes, they met at our radio station. She works in a social agency and has three children, a boy and girl grown and a son (Andy) who is a second grader." CAROLE JEAN BENKELMAN, 71, died January 19, 2023, after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at her home in Saint Johns, Mich., surrounded by family. Carole was born October 26, 1951 in Lansing, the first of three daughters born to Robert and Lorraine (Smith) Benkelman, and grew up in Cass City, where she graduated from high school in 1969. A graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in human ecology, Carole worked as a social worker for several years. After graduating, she worked at Michigan Works, and then served as a case manager at a domestic violence and sexual assault services center in Clinton County. She also worked for several years at Federal Mogul in Saint Johns. Before retiring, she worked for The Salvation Army in Owosso. From childhood to the end of her life, Carole was a source of joy for everyone around her, always sharing her positive spirit with friends and family even in times of adversity. She cared deeply about her family, especially her sons Jason and Andy and her daughter Carrie. Children brought her particular happiness. If you were lucky enough to be a child in Carole's life, you no doubt have a story to tell about something special she did for you or a fun place she took you. Carole found great satisfaction in making connections. She was the keeper of family lore, and used her curiosity and sharp memory to help people understand their ancestors and what life was like for the people who came before us. After her parents died, she kept the pictures and letters they had retrieved from the old Striffler-Benkelman House on Houghton Street in Cass City, which was packed with family history (and a lot of other things) when her parents bought it in the 1960s. When the internet and genealogy web sites came along, Carole and her mother took great pains to post digital versions of the photos so that there were faces to go with the names. Connections were so important to Carole that she helped people outside her family make them, too. In the last years of her life, she walked her caregivers through Ancestry.com to research their own families, helping them create genealogical trees and using the TV screen to display the app on her phone. She said it was a good way to pass the time, but everyone knew it was more than that. It was a reflection of how she lived her life, believing that time shouldn't be wasted sitting still, even when her disease forced her to. She loved to go on those journeys of discovery with the people who were helping her. As a social worker, her generous and empathetic nature made her beloved among clients, as she helped them pay their utility bills or find them a warm place to stay. Once or twice her dedication to this work got her into trouble, like when she went against agency policy to transport clients to a safe place or buy them food with her own money, earning reprimands from bosses in the bureaucracy. But she cared more about the people than the policies - especially if children were involved. She was always thinking about someone else. Carole adored things that had stood the test of time: old buildings, old furniture, old photographs and old souls. Her sisters remember how she liked to take pictures in cemeteries around the Thumb as a teenager. She cared as much about the elderly as she did children, making time to visit her grandparents to see that they never felt isolated as they aged. Carole was always active - fixing or painting something, cleaning or working in the garden. She never sat down. So her 2014 diagnosis of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, was difficult to fathom. But it was also the same year that the Ice Bucket Challenge brought about heightened awareness of ALS, so its presence in society, and in her, was hard to ignore. She fought it to the very end, even though ALS is a progressive disease against which there really is no arsenal. That reality brought great frustration to her and her fellow "PALS" (people with ALS). Carole is survived by her loving husband, Kevin Larke; sons: Jason Tetreau of Cass City, Andrew Larke of Owosso; daughter, Carrie Tetreau of Saint Johns; two sisters: Catherine (Charles) Brooks of Sheridan, AR; Susan (Ken Fireman) Benkelman of Bethesda, MD; two nephews: Steven Brooks, Eric Brooks; two nieces: Catherine Fireman, Alexandra Fireman. According to her wishes, cremation has taken place. Inurnment will be in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City in the spring. Carole asked that donations in her memory be made to ALS of Michigan in Southfield, which she said was the non-profit organization that helped her the most, and she'd like to pay that generosity forward. Published by Kranz Funeral Home - Cass City on Jan. 21, 2023.
  Person ID	I6281	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2023

  
  

  Father	Robert Fletcher Benkelman,   b. 1 Oct 1926, Sandusky, Sanilac County, Michigan ,   d. 22 Sep 2006, Saginaw County, Michigan  (Age 79 years)
  Mother	Lorraine Bessie "Smitty" Smith,   b. 12 Feb 1931, Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan ,   d. 15 Jun 2012, Caseville, Huron County, Michigan  (Age 81 years)
  Married	30 Sep 1950	Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan   [3, 4]
  	Cass City Chronicle October 6, 1950 Page 6 Miss Smith and Robert Benkelman Wedding Saturday Miss Lorraine Smith of Kalamazoo became the bride of Robert F. Benkelman Saturday evening at eight o'clock in a ceremony at the First Congregational Church at Kalamazoo. Dr. William A. Keith, church pastor, conducted the rites. Mrs. Benkelman, who wore a Sophie original of ice blue satin, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence W. Smith of Cambridge Drive, Kalamazoo. The groom is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold L. Benkelman of Cass City. Among 200 guests who attended the ceremony were 35 relatives and friends of the groom from Cass City. The maid of honor was Miss Carmen Magnuson of Lapeer. Miss Carole Ann Smith, the bride's sister, and Miss Marjorie Stern were bridesmaids. James McCoy of Port Austin served as best man. The ushers were Charles Auten, Kenneth Price and Dale Kettlewell, all of Cass City. Satin rickrack braid trimmed the mandarin collar and hipline of the bride's gown. The dress was cut with an off-the-shoulder neckline, short sleeves, a sheer yoke and a long train. An ice-blue half hat secured the three quarter length bridal veil. She carried a shower bouquet of white carnations and ivy. The attendants' pink and white bouquets were similar to the bride's. The maid of honor wore a pink gown with a lace bodice, a bouffant marquisette satin stole. The skirt and a bridesmaids' dresses were pastel blue. The candlelit church was decorated with white chrysanthemums. gladioli and palms. Miss Shirley Janssen, of Rockford, Ill., a Michigan State College student, was voca1 soloist and Mrs. Lincoln Dupon played the organ selections. Following the reception in the parlors of the church, the couple left for a short trip. Mrs. Benkelman wore a black ensemble trimmed in black velvet, black velvet accessories and a gold-colored topper. The couple will live in Lansing. The bride, a graduate of State High School in Kalamazoo, attended Michigan State College. Her husband, who was graduated from Cass City High School, received a B.A. degree in speech, dramatics and radio from MSC. (Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong, Fall 2007) Bob and Smitty purchased the former home of George Albert Striffler in Cass City when their daughters were young. His mother was a Benkelman and father a Striffler. And he left an attic full of "rubbish" mainly old clothing and photos, letters, and news clippings. Bob and Smitty scanned and shared many of the photos and letters with interested family members, and with BonnieMargaret Jacobs when she was reseaching her 1981 book about the Benkelman family. She jokingly referred to them as the "keepers of the gold lined laundry basket."
  Photos		Benkelman, Robert F. wedding to Lorraine Smith Miss Lorraine Smith of Kalamazoo became the bride of Robert F. Benkelman Saturday evening, September 30, 1950, at eight o'clock in a ceremony at the First Congregational Church at Kalamazoo. The couple will live in Lansing. The bride, a graduate of State High School in Kalamazoo, attended Michigan State College. Her husband, who was graduated from Cass City High School, received a B.A. degree in speech, dramatics and radio from MSC. l to r: Clarence and Cora Smith, Lorraine Smith and Robert Benkelman, Isabel and Harold "Sime" Benkelman
  		Striffler Home (George and Cora), 6593 Houghton St, Cass City, Michigan The Cass City Home of George and Cora Striffler. George was a prominent merchant in the early years of the village. The home was later owned by the family of Robert and Lorraine Benkelman. In a 1915 article from HISTORY OF MICHIGAN, it was noted that "Mr. Striffler has recently completed in Cass City a handsome and thoroughly modern house of twelve rooms, the same being the family home and one of the most attractive in the village, even as it is one of the most hospitable,a center of much of the social activity of the community. An appreciable part of the timber utilized in the erection of this building was taken from land owned by Mr. Striffler and is of growth that has been made since the disastrous forest fires which swept this section in 1871. Mr. Striffler himself found satisfaction in assisting in the sawing of the logs into the lumber and shingles for his fine new residence." In 1964, Robert Fletcher Benkelman and his wife Lorraine purchased the home, and lived in it with their family through 1970.
  Family ID	F611	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Gary D. Tetreau,   b. 16 Nov 1953, Bad Axe, Huron County, Michigan ,   d. 7 Nov 1985, Huron County, Michigan  (Age 31 years)
  Married	6 Nov 1971	Caro, Tuscola County, Michigan   [1, 5]
  Children	1. Living   2. Living
  Last Modified	5 Jul 2008
  Family ID	F3176	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Living
  Children	1. Living
  Last Modified	5 Jul 2008
  Family ID	F3177	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 26 Oct 1951 - Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan Married - 6 Nov 1971 - Caro, Tuscola County, Michigan Died - 19 Jan 2023 - Saint Johns, Clinton County, Michigan Buried - - Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.

  
  

• Sources

  [S492] Peck, Edward Arthur THE TEN BENKELMANS WHO EMIGRATED TO AMERICA Ca. 1850s AND CERTAIN OF THEIR DESCENDANTS, 1982. [S595] Striffler-Benkelman Broadcast, (Family Publication, published sporadically to record family milestones in connection with the annual Striffler-Benkelman Family Reunions, with Vol. 1, Number 1, published Sept. 7, 1936. Issues on file at the Rawson Memorial Library in Cass City, Michigan include Vol. 5 (1941), Vol. 7 (1944) and Volumes 8 (1945) through Vol. 28 (1968). Issues published from 1961 through 1964 were not assigned volume numbers, and 1963 appears to be missing. Xeroxes of the existing issues were also made by Melinda McLemore Strong in 2007. According to a article published by the Cass City Chronicle on August 6, 1981, commemorating the Fiftieth and Final Striffler-Benkelman Reunion, the final issue of the STRIFFLER-BENKELMAN BROADCAST appears to have been Volume 28, published in 1968.), Volume 15, September 1, 1952. (Reliability: 3). [S595] Striffler-Benkelman Broadcast, (Family Publication, published sporadically to record family milestones in connection with the annual Striffler-Benkelman Family Reunions, with Vol. 1, Number 1, published Sept. 7, 1936. Issues on file at the Rawson Memorial Library in Cass City, Michigan include Vol. 5 (1941), Vol. 7 (1944) and Volumes 8 (1945) through Vol. 28 (1968). Issues published from 1961 through 1964 were not assigned volume numbers, and 1963 appears to be missing. Xeroxes of the existing issues were also made by Melinda McLemore Strong in 2007. According to a article published by the Cass City Chronicle on August 6, 1981, commemorating the Fiftieth and Final Striffler-Benkelman Reunion, the final issue of the STRIFFLER-BENKELMAN BROADCAST appears to have been Volume 28, published in 1968.), Volume 14, September 3, 1951. (Reliability: 3). [S653] Cass City Chronicle, P.O. Box 115, Cass City, Michigan 48726, Published continously since 1899, archived from 1899 through 2005 at http://newspapers.rawson.lib.mi.us/chronicle/, October 6, 1950 (Reliability: 3). [S628] Benkelman, Lorraine Smith "Smith Benkelman Fletcher Patterson Jesse Page" Ver. 2008-07-17; http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=smith_benkelman.