Edith was born June 7, 1913 at Blue Jay, WV, the daughter of the late Aurthur Wilson and Leora Blankenship Okes. She received a bachelors degree from West Virginia Wesleyan University and her masters degree from Marshall University. She also received special nursing training from Vanderbilt University. She retired as a school teacher after teaching many years in West Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina. She was preceded in death by her husband, David M. Benson, brothers; Grant, Roy and Howard Okes and by her sister, Kathryn Moore. Edith had been a resident of Columbia for the past 43 years.