Former Bronx assemblyman, Michael Benjamin, announced that his mother, Kathleen A. Benjamin, née Conton, passed away at Calvary Hospital (Morris Park) on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, at the age of 86. A native of Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Kathleen came to the Bronx in 1956 and later married husband, Ray Benjamin, in October 1957. She resided at Tracey Towers in the Jerome Park section of the borough, on the border with Norwood.

 

After three children and ten years as a “stay-at-home,” mother, Kathleen became a para-professional at the school her boys attended, P.S. 130X, on Prospect Avenue in the South Bronx. She went on to earn her B.A. in education from Lehman College (Jerome Park) in 1979 and earned her Master’s in elementary education from City University. She taught first grade in Community School District 8 in the New York City public school system, primarily at P.S. 130, for 30 years, until her retirement in 1997.

 

Kathleen is survived by her sons, Michael, Lawrence, and Vernon; her cherished great-nephew, who is a fourth son, Kenon Tutein; niece, Denese Clay, and friend, Karen Mitchell, both of whom became the daughters she never had; daughter-in-law, Susie Wong-Benjamin; son-in-law, Stanley H. Willauer, Jr; grandsons, Maxwell and Xavier; sisters, Joyce Tutein, Lucida Robles, Inez Thomas; brothers, Alfred Conton, Jr. and Vernon Conton; and a host of loving nieces, nephews, friends and former students.

 

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ray O. Benjamin. Of his mother’s legacy, Michael Benjamin said, “Mom was a natural-born educator who enjoyed being around children and helping them to learn.”

 

Mrs Benjamin’s homegoing service will be held at McCall’s Bronxwood, 4035 Bronxwood Avenue/E. 227th Street (Wakefield) on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 11:30 a.m.

 

Donations, in Kathleen’s memory, may be made to Dementia Society of America, P.O. Box 600, Doylestown, PA 18901.