Irene Kathleen (Vieira) Benton left this world after an amazing 97 years on Feb. 2, 2020, at her home in Grass Valley, Calif., to go where the trade winds always blow softly.
Irene grew up in Hilo, Hawaii, living in paradise as an island native, diving into the local swimming holes, pausing only to have a banana and stick of sugarcane for lunch.
When a teenager, Irene’s older brother Rudy let her drive his car forward and reverse in the driveway for doing his night of dishes. Her sisters were already married and away from home. Irene graduated from Hilo High School and then boarded a ship by herself for the mainland to study dental hygiene at the University of Southern California.
Irene dealt with some tough issues while at USC where her roommate Winnie, among many others, came down with polio. Her dorm was put under quarantine. She remembers ironing her letters and clipping them to a clothesline outside the door for the postman to pick up. Irene recalls later visiting her friend at her home where she was relearning to walk.
While at USC, Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese, and it was two weeks before she learned her family was safe in Hawaii. Her mother’s sister came down and took her back to Oakland, Calif., to await the news. She remembered this time period vividly.
A wonderful moment at USC was when she met a handsome Marine – “the love of her life” – on a blind date. Richard Benton, or “Bennie” as his friends called him, would have to wait while Irene finished her school assignment of carving or drawing teeth before leaving on a date. If Irene was ever late for curfew, the dorm mother would have her do the hula for everyone, and she was off the hook.
The couple exchanged many letters and soon married at El Toro Marine Base Chapel, Calif., on Jan. 10, 1946, and honeymooned for a month at the Hotel Laguna in Laguna Beach, Calif., where they would return for many anniversaries including their 50th.
Soon three children were born: Rick, Bonnie and Bridget. After Bennie’s retirement from the Marine Corps after 21 years, they made their final homes in Tustin and Riverside, Calif., after living on Marine Corps bases across the country. They moved 36 times.
Irene would only receive an approximate time – a two-week window – for her fighter pilot’s return from a mission. She would surprise him and his fellow pilots by driving two hours in the middle of the night – with two kids asleep in the back seat – to meet his ship on “just a feeling” that he was coming home that night.
She was a wonderful homemaker and always had hot meals on the dinner table and fresh floral arrangements on the tabletops. Irene was an accredited flower show judge for roses, irises and horticulture and had a rose and an iris named after her.
Irene gave flawless programs on floral design especially the Ikebana-style of flower arranging. After Bennie retired from his second career of banking, he would join her in activities of the Inland Region Iris Society in Riverside, Calif.
The couple loved their cabin, “Loggin’ Time,” at Forest Falls, Calif., and visited as often as possible to enjoy the fresh air and simple joys with family and friends.
The Marine Corps birthday was always a major celebration with their longtime Marine Corps friends, Connie and Stub Washburn. Many a cake was cut with a sword, and many a “Marines’ Hymn” sung.
She was proud to be a military wife and when Bennie died in 2007, she said, amidst her grief, that “military brides never give up.”
Irene was the fourth child born to Angelina (Seitz) and John Joseph Vieira on Nov. 12, 1922, in Wailea, Hawaii. She grew up with the Portuguese culture and left the secrets of her Azorean grandmother’s Portuguese sweet bread with her daughters and granddaughters to carry on the Easter tradition.
She was proceeded in death by her husband after 61 years of marriage; son Richard “Rick” Wayne Benton II in 1983; infant grandson Richard “Little Rick” Wayne Benton III; her parents; and her siblings: Rudolph (Louise) Vierra of Oahu, and Evelyn (Fred) Serrao and Helen (Frederick) Toledo, both of the Big Island.
Left behind to forever love and remember her are daughters: Bonnie (Chris) Madden of Nevada City, Calif., and Bridget (Jim) Johnson of Kalona, Iowa; daughter-in-law: Lyn Benton of Portland, Ore.; grandchildren: Michele (Ashkan) Babaie of Portland, Ore., Eric Upton and fiancée Kelly Smith of Los Angeles, John-Michael Mendizza and wife Sabine Zubarik of Erfurt, Germany, Jenna Johnson and husband Derek Hills of Washington, D.C., Jaclyn (Mark) Creveling of Washington, D.C., and James Johnson of Omaha, Neb.; and great-grandsons: Andrew and Nicholas Babaie with another great-grandson, Baby Creveling, to arrive in March.
Irene will be buried next to her husband at the Riverside National Cemetery in a private ceremony. Hooper and Weaver Mortuary of Nevada City is taking care of arrangements.
Aloha, dear mama, until we meet again. We will “always love you,” too.
