Elinor Faxon Divine Benedict

NAPLES, Fla. — Elinor Faxon Divine Benedict passed away peacefully on April 17, 2025, in Naples, Florida, at the age of 93. In addition to being a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, Elinor was also a poet, journalist, teacher, editor, and arts patron. Her family will lovingly remember her for her commitment to her Christian faith and her devotion to her community. We fondly recall her love of cats, gardening, bird-watching, word play, travel, and family gatherings.

Elinor was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on June 4, 1931, the youngest child of Thomas and Mary Hills Divine. Elinor cherished her childhood days growing up on Lookout Mountain and attending her much-loved school, GPS (Girls Preparatory School). She met her husband Sam in Latin class while attending Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tennessee. She earned a B.A. in English from Duke in 1953, Summa cum Laude, with the added distinction of Valedictorian of the Women’s College. After graduation, she was nominated for a Fulbright Scholarship and also won the prestigious Mademoiselle prize for short fiction. Her story was later anthologized in Mademoiselle Prize Stories, 1951-1976. She used her prize money to buy her wedding dress, turned down the Fulbright scholarship, and married Sam Benedict on October 3, 1953 in Kingsport, Tennessee. The couple moved to Washington state for Sam’s U.S. Army service at Fort Lewis, where they also began their family.

For much of Elinor’s married life, she and husband Sam lived in Chillicothe, Ohio and then Washington Township, Ohio, where Sam pursued his career with Mead Corporation. Elinor was vigorously active in civic life, as a life-long member of the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women. She was a journalist for the Kettering-Oakwood Times and the Centerville Times, covering the school system and composing feature articles. In 1977, she earned her MA in English from Wright State University, in Dayton, Ohio. The same year, Elinor and Sam moved to Escanaba, Michigan, where she devoted her time to supporting the William Bonifas Arts Center, and teaching journalism and creative writing at Bay de Noc Community College. In 1983 she earned her MFA in writing from Vermont College. She was extremely proud of founding and editing Passages North in 1979, a literary magazine, which is still in publication through Northern Michigan University. Passages North awards a generous poetry prize in her name each year.

Poetry was always Elinor’s first and abiding passion. She worked on her craft with tenacity and meticulous care to detail and word choice; she was a zealous reviser. Her poems explored themes of nature, family, and relationships. She attended numerous writers’ conferences, including Bread Loaf, in order to hone her craft. She also conducted writers’ conferences through Bay de Noc Community College, where she was a helpful mentor to a number of young writers. Elinor published poems in countless literary journals, including The American Review, Shenandoah, and the Green River Review; she published seven chapbooks; is anthologized in Contemporary Michigan Poetry (1988); and won several notable awards, among them the Illinois Writers Prize (1993) and the May Swenson Award (2001). In 2024, she was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Literary Hall of Fame.

Elinor is survived by her husband of 71 years, Samuel S. Benedict; her children Samuel W. Benedict (Pamela), Jonathan F. Benedict (Jamie), and Kathleen B. Ayau (Kurt); her seven grandchildren; and her three (soon to be four) great-grandchildren. Elinor’s family will forever be inspired by her inquisitive mind, keen intellect, playfulness, and most of all, her love for her family.

A memorial service will be held at a later date in Escanaba. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her name to the William Bonifas Arts Center, 700 1st Ave. S., Escanaba, MI 49829. Information about the upcoming memorial service will be available on the Fuller Funeral Home (Naples, Fla.) website.