Ella Mae Benefiel

Ella Mae was born June 25, 1925 to Joseph Catanzaro and Addie (Traylor) Catanzaro in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of four children (Clara, Joe, and Dottie). She graduated from high school in 1943. During World War II she worked in a defense plant heat treating metal. She also attended beauty school and worked as a beautician. She married a pharmacist who worked for the Veterans’ Administration, and they were posted to Cleveland, Washington, D.C., and then to Walla Walla. They divorced in the 1950s.

We three boys were a little surprised when our dad, Jim Benefiel married Ella on April 13, 1959. Ella had never had any children of her own, but she accepted, without protest, the daunting challenge of raising and feeding us boys (by my count one morning, she cooked 39 pieces of French toast for the three of us). She was proud that she played baseball with us boys. If we have any moral sense, it was because of Ella.

She had a great sense of humor. Ella was a skilled golfer and loved her dogs. She also worked at Birdseye Frozen Foods and volunteered for 25 years at the Providence St. Mary gift shop.

She is survived by her sister, Clara Staverman of Cincinnati, Ohio, her three sons Jim and Nancy of Lansdowne, Virginia, Gary and Susy of Walla Walla, and Art and Lori of Bend, Oregon, by seven grandchildren-Rebecca, Adam, Poppy, Holly, Sam, Joe, and Maggie and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents Joseph and Addie, her brother Joe, her sister Dottie, and her husband Jim.
The family would like to thank Mattie Munoz, and the staffs at Brookdale College Place and Regency at the Park for their dedicated care and love they demonstrated for Ella time and time again throughout her declining years.

Viewing and Visitation will be held on Thursday, January 25, 2018 at the Herring Groseclose Funeral Home from 10:00AM until 7:00PM. The Funeral Mass will be held at St. Francis Catholic Church Friday, January 26, 2018 at 1:00PM with Father Matthew Nicks, Celebrant.

Memorial Contributions may be made to St. Mary Hospital through the Funeral Home 315 W. Alder, Walla Walla, WA.