Day 1
12/07/23 22:42
Following my mother's death on June 20, 2023. I decided to post a narrative about her nearly 106 years of life on Facebook. Each post included photos. There were ten posts, and they are reproduced here with a bit of editing and a few additional photos. I hope that you enjoy the story and the images from Rhoda's past, and our shared life with her. All four of the Porter children feel that we were lucky to have had Rhoda and Bernie as our parents. Happy reading! Kent
June 28, 2023—
Post One:
I write to let my Facebook friends know that my mother died in her sleep early Tuesday morning last week. She was just three weeks shy of her 106th birthday. Although it was sad for my sisters, my brother, and me to see her go, we were happy that she got her wish to die peacefully in her sleep in the home that she had lovingly built with my father beginning in 1946, a home in which we were all raised. I am also very happy that my sister Karen and brother-in-law Dave, who have been caring for my mother and living in the Los Gatos house with her, now have found their well-deserved freedom to live their lives as they wish.
When someone dies who is so old, it is remarkable to ponder not only the person's physical longevity, but also the history that he or she experienced in life. Mom was born in South Africa to American parents during World War I , lived through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the development of television and personal computers, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements, the traumatic assassinations of John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, the 911 attacks, and so many more momentous events-- a list that is too long to mention in its entirety here.
Recently, a good friend of mine from elementary school and high school wrote that she was participating in a Facebook challenge to post one photo a day that brings her joy, and to do it for ten days while nominating one other person to do the same. I was one that she nominated.
One of my faults is that I am not a very good “rule follower”. Rather than nominating an individual, I would encourage others generally to post their own “joyful” photos. So I support the idea. Regarding my mother’s death, I have prepared my own “Rhoda story” which I will eventually put on a website that I maintain. On Facebook, for those who are interested, I will post the same story in parts for the next ten days with pictures that bring me joy.
Here is the first installment:
Rhoda Ann (Bensberg) Porter, a longtime resident of Los Gatos, died at home on June 20, 2023, just three weeks shy of her 106th birthday.
Rhoda was born in Paarl (near Cape Town), South Africa in 1917 to Isabel Hoover Bensberg and Ferdinand Bensberg. At the time of her birth, her American parents were living on and managing a large Cecil Rhodes fruit farm near Wellington, South Africa. Later, her father Ferdinand was hired to manage a much larger estate called Lourensford on the Western Cape. The family lived on that estate during those years. Her sister, Ruth (Bensberg) George, joined the family in 1921.
In 1922, the Bensbergs moved back to California. At Capetown, the four boarded the S.S. Baradine which took them to Sydney via Christmas Island, Fremantle (Western Australia), and Melbourne. Upon their arrival in Sydney, Isabel and her two daughters were quarantined, most likely due to measles. Ferdinand went on alone to San Francisco. Isabel, Rhoda and Ruth arrived later aboard the S.S. Tahiti, traveling from Sydney via New Zealand, Tahiti and the Cook Islands. Arriving in San Francisco on July 3rd, 1922, the young Bensberg sisters became Californians and remained so for the rest of their lives. And Rhoda ended up losing her English accent that she had acquired in her formative years in South Africa. The family eventually settled in a house that they designed and built on West Road above Austin Way in Los Gatos.
Rhoda in her first year of life with her new parents, Ferdinand and Isabel Bensberg—1917 on the De Fortuin Estate in Wellington, South Africa
Isabel, Rhoda, and Ferdinand—De Fortuin estate near Wellington, South Africa, late 1917 early 1918
The R.M.S. (later the S.S.) Baradine—Isabel, Ferdinand, and their two daughters Rhoda and Ruth traveled on it from Capetown South Africa to Sidney, Australia in 1922. That journey was the beginning of their new lives in California
The R.M.S. (later the S.S.) Tahiti, the ship that brought Rhoda, Ruth, and their mother Isabel from Sydney to San Francisco on July 3, 1922
June 28, 2023—
Post One:
I write to let my Facebook friends know that my mother died in her sleep early Tuesday morning last week. She was just three weeks shy of her 106th birthday. Although it was sad for my sisters, my brother, and me to see her go, we were happy that she got her wish to die peacefully in her sleep in the home that she had lovingly built with my father beginning in 1946, a home in which we were all raised. I am also very happy that my sister Karen and brother-in-law Dave, who have been caring for my mother and living in the Los Gatos house with her, now have found their well-deserved freedom to live their lives as they wish.
When someone dies who is so old, it is remarkable to ponder not only the person's physical longevity, but also the history that he or she experienced in life. Mom was born in South Africa to American parents during World War I , lived through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the development of television and personal computers, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements, the traumatic assassinations of John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, the 911 attacks, and so many more momentous events-- a list that is too long to mention in its entirety here.
Recently, a good friend of mine from elementary school and high school wrote that she was participating in a Facebook challenge to post one photo a day that brings her joy, and to do it for ten days while nominating one other person to do the same. I was one that she nominated.
One of my faults is that I am not a very good “rule follower”. Rather than nominating an individual, I would encourage others generally to post their own “joyful” photos. So I support the idea. Regarding my mother’s death, I have prepared my own “Rhoda story” which I will eventually put on a website that I maintain. On Facebook, for those who are interested, I will post the same story in parts for the next ten days with pictures that bring me joy.
Here is the first installment:
Rhoda Ann (Bensberg) Porter, a longtime resident of Los Gatos, died at home on June 20, 2023, just three weeks shy of her 106th birthday.
Rhoda was born in Paarl (near Cape Town), South Africa in 1917 to Isabel Hoover Bensberg and Ferdinand Bensberg. At the time of her birth, her American parents were living on and managing a large Cecil Rhodes fruit farm near Wellington, South Africa. Later, her father Ferdinand was hired to manage a much larger estate called Lourensford on the Western Cape. The family lived on that estate during those years. Her sister, Ruth (Bensberg) George, joined the family in 1921.
In 1922, the Bensbergs moved back to California. At Capetown, the four boarded the S.S. Baradine which took them to Sydney via Christmas Island, Fremantle (Western Australia), and Melbourne. Upon their arrival in Sydney, Isabel and her two daughters were quarantined, most likely due to measles. Ferdinand went on alone to San Francisco. Isabel, Rhoda and Ruth arrived later aboard the S.S. Tahiti, traveling from Sydney via New Zealand, Tahiti and the Cook Islands. Arriving in San Francisco on July 3rd, 1922, the young Bensberg sisters became Californians and remained so for the rest of their lives. And Rhoda ended up losing her English accent that she had acquired in her formative years in South Africa. The family eventually settled in a house that they designed and built on West Road above Austin Way in Los Gatos.
Rhoda in her first year of life with her new parents, Ferdinand and Isabel Bensberg—1917 on the De Fortuin Estate in Wellington, South Africa
Isabel, Rhoda, and Ferdinand—De Fortuin estate near Wellington, South Africa, late 1917 early 1918
The R.M.S. (later the S.S.) Baradine—Isabel, Ferdinand, and their two daughters Rhoda and Ruth traveled on it from Capetown South Africa to Sidney, Australia in 1922. That journey was the beginning of their new lives in California
The R.M.S. (later the S.S.) Tahiti, the ship that brought Rhoda, Ruth, and their mother Isabel from Sydney to San Francisco on July 3, 1922
