Obituary - Lahoma Elizabeth Bertram Benke

Lahoma Elizabeth Bertram Benke

Born: June 2, 1915 Died: February 15, 2001

Funeral for Lahoma Elizabeth Bertram Benke, 85, Lawton, is pending with Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home.

Mrs. Benke died Thursday at a local hospital.

©The Lawton Constitution, Lawton, Oklahoma (February 16, 2001)

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Funeral for Lahoma Elizabeth Bertram Benke, 85, Lawton, will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church with the Reverend James D. M. Stafford, pastor, officiating.

Mrs. Benke died Thursday at a local hospital.

Rosary will be at 7 p.m. today at Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home Chapel.

Burial will be at Highland Cemetery. She was born June 2, 1915, in Lawton to Adam Anthony and Matilda Mary Maschino Bertram. She grew up in Lawton and graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 1933. In 1935, she graduated from Cameron Junior College with an associate degree in science. She married Carl Theodore Benke December 29, 1937, at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. He died in 1983. When she was 70, she returned to Cameron University to finish requirements for a Spanish degree. She was active in Phi Sigma Lota, the language honor society at Cameron, providing a Foreign Language Arts scholarship award each year. She hosted more than 10 Spanish-speaking foreign exchange students during the 1980s and ‘90s. She was volunteer 4-H club leader from 1950 until 1974 and was a lifelong member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. She was honored as Matriarch of the Family of the Year in 1994 from St. Mary’s Parochial School in Lawton. She served as a hospital lay minister for her church from 1984 until 1999. She volunteered for Birth Choice of Lawton during the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Survivors include two sons: Charles and Larry Benke, both of Lawton; eight daughters: Dorothy Hennessy, El Paso; Doris Renschen, Lawton; Geraldine Burk, Lawton; Carlene Inzer, Memphis; Gloria Gueydan, Jonesboro, Louisiana; Angela Morris, Walters; Alice Cook, Oklahoma City; and Mary Parrish, Walters; two sisters-in-law: Caroline Jones and Wilma Bertram, both of Lawton; 41 grandchildren; 46 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; six nieces; and two nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; one daughter, Donna Birkenfeld; and two brothers: Joe and Millard Bertram.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Cleo Craig Memorial Cancer and Research Clinic, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church or Birth Choice of Lawton.