Marilyn Ruth Benson

Marilyn Ruth Plagowski Benson was born on July 24, 1938 in Neenah-Manasa, Wisconsin, the youngest of three children born to Walter Plagowski and Ruth Shirley Dean. She was the little sister to Dean and Paul, her two ever-envious brothers.

The family moved to San Rafael, California, trucking across America like Steinbeck’s Okies in The Grapes of Wrath, when Marilyn was only three-years-old. She spent her early school years in Marin County, attending parochial school in San Rafael, and playing in the rolling green hills between Tiburon and San Rafael.When she got to jr. high school, Marilyn and her mother, moved to Alameda to live with Aunt Trixie (Shirley’s older sister), Uncle Mac, and her beloved Grandma Dean (Shirley’s mother).Marilyn had what she frequently described as a wonderful time in jr. high and high schools. She played clarinet in the marching band at Alameda High School (where they discovered she had perfect pitch) and graduated with honors, excelling in speech and debate, mathematics, and science courses.

When she finished high school, Marilyn began working for Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco. Coincidentally, her granddaughter, Raquel also worked for Wells Fargo Bank in The City, 40 years later. Marilyn worked in the asset preservation department of Wells Fargo, checking the daily obituaries of various newspapers in Northern California so that the bank’s lawyers could make claims against the estates of debtors who had outstanding loans at the time of their deaths.

While working in The City, Marilyn had a chance meeting with a young navy communications officer on leave from the Alameda Naval Air Station. This chance meeting resulted in her marriage six months later to Louis Benson, a fraternal twin from Grace, Idaho, a very small farming town in the Southeastern corner of the state. Louis still had almost three years remaining in his commitment to the Navy when he and Marilyn began dating, so it was no surprise when the young couple eloped to Reno and got married two months after their chance meeting on the streets of San Francisco.

Fifteen months after their wedding, Marilyn gave birth to the first of four boys. LJ entered the world at the Naval Hospital in Alameda, followed two years later by Bobby after the young family had moved to Grace, then Billy two years afterward, and lastly—though certainly not least —Dale four years after Bill’s birth.

Marilyn’s tumultuous life in Grace was anything but idyllic. But, determined to protect her boys, and find a better life for herself, Marilyn divorced Louis and left Grace with the four boys in tow. While LJ would soon return to live with his father, Marilyn resolutely refused to surrender to the pressures of Louis’s family or finances, shielding her youngest three boys as best she could. Moving on to attend school at Idaho State University in Pocatello, she obtained an Associates degree and Nursing Certificate, cheered on by Aunt Trixie, Uncle Mac, and Shirley and her boys. Marilyn had a very quick mind, was incredibly intelligent, and possessed a very dry sense of humor…none of which faded even as she aged.

After finishing her schooling in Idaho, Marilyn joined with her mother and took the three youngest to Salinas, in Central California. There she worked for Romie Lane Nursing Home, as a nurses aid while she waited for her LPN license. And, as soon she obtained her LPN, Marilyn began an almost 40-year career at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital.

She worked in ICU / CCU for most of her tenure at the hospital, but finished out her career in the education department, training new staff members. During her time at SVMH, Marilyn began working with the union, eventually rising to become a member of the SEIU Executive Board. There she did battle with the hospital’s lawyers on behalf of her fellow nurses and union members, gaining some of her most cherished and valuable experiences, and developing lifelong friendships. Outside of her family, whom she loved most of all, Marilyn loved and appreciated her Union family.

Eventually, Marilyn would see LJ give her two grandchildren, (Louise, and Richard,) and then, through Louis and Kim, two more children, (Carmen, and Lindsey); Bob and Trinity gave her four more grandchildren (Daniel, Elizabeth, Raquel, & Trey); and Dale gave her one granddaughter (Katelynn). And, while Marilyn was careful to avoid showing favorites, the whole family knew and understood the very special relationship between Marilyn and her Katelynn!

Marilyn passed peacefully on June 15, 2025, having created an incredible family and love. She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers, son-Bill, and granddaughter-Elle. Marilyn was loved by her boys, by their wives, and by her grandchildren.