Estella (Stella) Benson
A memorial service honoring Stella will be held on Saturday, August 16 at 1:30pm at the Lummi Island Congregational Church.
Estella (Stella) Benson passed away on July 27, 2014 from lung cancer in Bellingham, Washington at the age of 66 with her family at her bedside. She resided on Lummi Island, Washington with her husband, Randall, and her beloved dogs, Merlin and Gretel.
Stella was born on December 8, 1947 to Ernest and Eva Garcia in Colton, California and graduated from Colton High School. She was the oldest for four children including sisters Martha and Rebecca and brother Alan. Her father died in a car accident when she was young and she grew up with her mother and grandparents, Carmen and Emilio Delgadillo in San Bernardino. Her grandfather, a church organist and former symphony conductor, introduced Stella to the joys of music and taught her piano.
Stella was proud of her Mexican heritage and frequently made trips with her family to visit relatives in Mexico where she learned to knit from her aunts. She lived near her large extended family that would gather on Sundays for dinner, rides in her cousin’s Model T, and trips to the movie theater.
Stella married her high school sweetheart, John Sachs, in Colton, where together they had a daughter, Lisa, and two sons, John and Jason. Stella and John were eventually divorced and Stella moved to the Seattle area in her mid 20’s.
She started a career in the high-tech industry and met her current husband, Randall, while working as a purchasing agent at Phase Linear Corporation. They were married on June 12, 1981. Stella and Randall welcomed a daughter, Diana. Stella and Randall lived in the Greenlake neighborhood of Seattle with Lisa and Diana for over 20 years. Stella particularly enjoyed restoring their Victorian house, hiking and camping in the Cascade and Olympic mountains, roaming around historical sites in the UK, and attending her children’s school events and sports activities.
After a successful career as a purchasing agent and materials manager, Stella found her calling in the field of healing music. She was highly regarded and internationally recognized as a harper, teacher, recording artist and author of books about healing music. She was a gifted therapeutic musician who frequently played at the bedside of the sick and dying. She wrote four books, released three CDs, developed an on-line training program, and conducted dozens of workshops around the world. She also served as director of the Music for Healing and Transition Program (MHTP) an organization that trained and certified musicians to play at the bedside.
In recent years Stella and Randall lived on Lummi Island, Washington where she continued her work as a healing musician. She also became an enthusiastic bluegrass musician, playing mandolin and banjo and often performed bluegrass gospel music at the community church. She loved taking her family, including her 85-year-old mother, to the regional bluegrass festivals. She also found great enjoyment through her knitting and gardening at her community plot.
While often described by the healing music community as deeply spiritual, Stella could also be delightfully wacky and playful. One of her family’s favorite memories is the time Stella rode the camels at the local camel farm and was discovered nuzzling her camel nose-to-nose.
Stella is survived by her husband, Randall, sisters Martha and Rebecca (Sean); children, Lisa (Paul), John (Jamie), Jason, Diana (Rowland); grandchildren, Celina, Erin, Julia, Madison, Sydney, Reese, Abigail, Zachary, Langston, and Luna.
A memorial service honoring Stella will be held on Saturday, August 16 at 1:30pm at the Lummi Island Congregational Church. Please consider taking an early ferry because long lines can develop for the small 20-car ferry. Even though the ferry will run continuously as long as cars are waiting to cross, waits can be over 1.5 hours at mid-day.
To honor and perpetuate her global harp therapy work, The Stella Benson Harp Therapy Fund will be initiated at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: https://www.peacehealth.org/foundation/st-joseph/Pages/Default.aspx Spiritual Care - Stella Benson Harp Therapy Fund.
Or: PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation 2901 Squalicum Parkway Bellingham, WA 98225
Memories
From Christine Magnussen
Stella's work and heart reached far and wide. Because she lived in the Bellingham, WA area and received treatment at St. Joseph's Hospital, the initial Stella Benson Harp Therapy Fund has begun there. Perhaps those of you who knew her in therapeutic music programs would like to create programs in her honor for all types of therapeutic music. Donations to the St. Joseph fund will ONLY be used at the Bellingham hospital. This program is designed to "seed" ongoing donations there earmarked for harp therapy.
From Jennifer Pratt…
I took one of Stella's courses, but I have known her kind and warm spirit for much longer, through the Fort Flagler Folk Harp Fest. Dear Stella, the world is a much better, gentler place because of you. Blessed Be, my friend.
From Pamela Miller
Stella was a one of a kind, a beautiful person inside and out. I miss her smile and quiet manner. Jo Philpot played a piece that Stella wrote for harp at Church on Sunday and I could just see Stella there as we have sooooo many times. It's a beautiful piece of music that all her friends should hear.
From Jennifer Valle
I found this poem, unknown author.
God looked around his garden and found an empty space
Then he looked down upon this earth and saw your tired face
He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest
Gods garden must be beautiful
He only takes the best.
From J Bild
Stella was a lovely woman. I feel so grateful to have spent so much time in the Benson's home in Seattle, where Stella was consistently kind and jovial--I can still hear her trademark laugh! She will be greatly missed.
From Joyce Bowman
Although I didn't personally know Stella, I do know her daughter Lisa very well. Lisa often talked of you very fondly and I'm grateful that she had such a wonderful mother. She is a lot like you Stella, and I can see that your granddaughter Julia is carrying on in your footsteps has an accomplished harper. You've left a legacy of love, family, healing and music ... a beautiful legacy indeed. You've now joined the ranks of one of God's musicians in Heaven. Sending my love and healing prayers to the family.
From Lindy Clifton
My husband Mervyn and I were honoured to meet both Stella and Randall in 2006 when they travelled to Australia so that Stella could run workshops re the International Healing Musician's Program. They stayed with us in Sydney and we formed an immediate bond.
I was given the honour of introducing Stella at a small concert held in the Calvary Hospice in Sydney. Stella's talk, demonstration and explanation of the manner in which the harp could be used to allay people's suffering and to assist them to have comfortable deaths were inspirational. So much so that our lovely friend Angela Sciberras who had undertaken the course and who arranged for Stella's visit, organised another visit two years' later. This time we organised a Music Symposium which was attended by 70 people and which, once again, was instrumental in opening people's eyes re the power of music to heal.
Again, Stella and Randall stayed with us and the four of us had an adventure to the Hunter Valley and to the South Coast of New South Wales. They were both such great company. We had already organised a visit to see them this coming September and we are indeed sad to know that we will not see Stella again in the physical sense. We are sure that we will feel her presence.
The impact that Stella had in the world was great - she developed a course and then taught many people throughout the world how to use music to ease pain, to bring comfort and to lift people's spirits. What an achievement!
Truly the world was blessed to have had Stella's presence for 66 years.
From sky super6
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular post!
It is the little changes which will make the most significant changes.
Many thanks for sharing!
From fleck water
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From http://noramua…
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From Rachel Greenspan
I just found this site, so many years later. It is now September 25. 2021 and I shared today about Stella with a new friend who also graduated from the Musici for Healing and Transition Program. I knew Stella from the MHTP activities. Although Stella was not my program mentor, she always made time for me when I called her and she met me for lunch several times, always encouraging me in my efforts to complete the program and share my musical compositions with people who were sad and suffering. Her Life was an inspiration and a blessing to me. I bought several of her books at the Music Healing workshops and I treasure them today. I treasure her compassionate Life and that we had the opportunity to get to know one another this time around. I believe we will meet again! Thank you. Rachel Greenspan 206-595-6776
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