In Memory Of

Mrs. Miriam
Collins
Benack
-

Service Information

Visitation
Thursday, January 23, 2020
to
to
Service
Friday, January 24, 2020
10:00 am
Cemetery

St. Patricks Cemetery

225 Brentwood Rd, Bay Shore, NY 11706

Obituary

BENACK- Miriam Collins, 89, a longtime resident of Garden City, passed away in Seattle on January 15th, 2020. Born in Brooklyn, NY on October 21, 1930, Miriam was the only child of Annastasia Sweeney Collins and Joseph Augustus Collins. She was predeceased by her husband of 56 years, former Garden City Mayor, Richard Andrew (Dick) Benack. As a young child, Miriam enjoyed dance, and performed regularly in community venues such as hospitals, veterans’ facilities, and retirement homes. During secondary school at Saint Agnes Seminary in Brooklyn, she took up acting and public speaking, and coached various parish sports teams. After attending the Katherine Gibbs School in Manhattan, Miriam worked as a secretary for several well-known companies, including Bristol Myers, then headquartered in Rockefeller Center.
Miriam and Dick married in 1957. After the birth of their fourth child in 1970, they moved from Brooklyn to Garden City, NY, where they raised their family. Although she was a busy wife and mother during those years, Miriam managed to graduate from Adelphi University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management in 1983.
Always outgoing and very active in her community, she enjoyed tennis, golf, and platform tennis for many years, belonging to the Garden City Casino and The Cherry Valley Club. In addition, she was a faithful member of St. Joseph’s Parish, and served there as the President of the PTA as well as on the Parish Council. She also volunteered on the Executive Board of the Garden City League of Mercy Hospital and the Board of Governors of the Casino.  In 2017, several years after her husband passed away, Miriam moved from Garden City to Seattle, in order to be closer to her children and grandchildren. Although she had given up tennis, she began painting, and continued her lifelong habit of voracious reading.  She is survived by her four children, Richard (Connie), William (Keri), Edward (Nadya), and Mary Ann, and also her five grandchildren, Caia, Brianne, Steven, Mark, and Alexa. 

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