Beatrice Benson

Beatrice Benson
Born	September 11, 1937 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Died	September 29, 2022 Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA
NSA member	Eastern Caroline Islands 1989 - 1990 Mariana Islands 2010 - 2019
ABM	Asia 1970 - 1973 Australasia 1977 - 1988
Counsellor	Australasia 1990 - 2010

Beatrice "Betty" Philomena Benson (September 11, 1937 - September 29, 2022) was a Malaysian Bahá'í who helped develop Bahá’í communities especially in Malaysia, Australia, Micronesia, and Guam and served as a Continental Counsellor for Australasia.

Biography

Benson was born Beatrice Monteiro in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1937. She moved to England to pursue higher education and completed a teaching degree in Liverpool in 1957 then returned to Malaysia where she began teaching in Jasin. She was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith by Tusha Kanti Paul in 1958 and declared.

At some point Benson married Tony Fernandez who was also a Bahá’í and they served on the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Malacca, Began Serai, and Petaling Jaya. In her professional career she worked as a teacher until 1964 when she became a Tupperware manager. In 1970 she was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member assigned to Western Malaysia, however after divorcing Fernandez in 1973 she moved to Western Australia where she settled in Perth, serving on the Local Spiritual Assembly of South Perth, and returned to teaching professionally.

In 1977 Benson was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member assigned to Western Australia and traveled extensively across the state in her service. She completed her service as a Board member in 1988 and began traveling across the Pacific visiting Fiji, Tonga, Yap, and Palau. During her travels she met fellow Bahá’í Richard Benson and they married in 1989 and she settled in Micronesia where she was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Eastern Caroline Islands.

In 1990 Benson was appointed as a Counsellor for Australasia and in 2001 she and her husband moved to Guam. In 2004 she attended the Waves of One Ocean conference in Apia, Samoa, held to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Faith in the country. She spoke on the history of the Faith at the conference. In 2009 she participated in Regional Conferences in Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia. After completing her service as Counsellor she was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Mariana Islands and Local Spiritual Assembly of Chalan Pago-Ordot up until 2019.

In later years Benson cared for her husband until his passing in 2021 then moved to New York to live with her daughters family. She passed away in New York in 2022.