Marie M. Benthall

Published 11:11 am Friday, February 7, 2025

AHOSKIE – Anne Marie Mathias Benthall of Ahoskie passed away on February 5, 2025. She was born in Suffolk, VA on March 1, 1940. On December 28, 1958, she married her husband Francis Mitchell Benthall. They were married for almost 40 years. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Ahoskie, NC.

During Marie’s time as a high school student, she was the center for the basketball team and would also model evening gowns at the local department store. She was beautiful as well as athletic.

Marie enjoyed anything related to nature and the arts. She created beautiful masterpieces with her paint brushes and paints. She was awarded several blue ribbons for her artwork. She grew beautiful flowers and would love to take visitors around her yard and show off any unusual flowers that she had collected during her rides around the countryside. She loved to watch her birds and butterflies and knew the names of each of them and their origin. If you dared to argue about her accuracy of the bird species, she would quickly break out the Audubon bird book.

One of her favorite things to do was to be “Nana.” She loved her grandchildren and the many “adoptive” grandchildren that also called her Nana. She was the best Nana and was always up for their adventures. She loved to sit in the swing on her daughter’s back porch and watch the planes fly above. She was always curious where they might be going. She took flying lessons and only needed one solo flight to complete the requirements for her pilot licenses. We know she is once again flying high! “We love you Nana” and that would always make her say “How much?”

Marie was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas and Annie Mathias; her husband, Francis Mitchell Benthall; and her sister, Jeanette Mathias. She leaves behind two daughters, Pat Brown and Karen Daly. Marie had three grandchildren, Courtney Brown, Olivia and Wyatt Daly and one great grandchild, Will Simpson.

A celebration of Marie’s life will be held on Sunday, February 9, 2025, at 3 p.m. at Garrett-Sykes Funeral Service in Ahoskie, NC. The family will receive friends at 2 p.m., an hour before the service, at the funeral home. There will be a private burial at Highland Memorial Gardens, Ahoskie, North Carolina.

Flowers are welcome or memorial donations in Marie’s memory may be made to American Heart Association PO Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284-0692, or to Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Avenue, 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601-7633. Donations can also be made online by visiting tmcfunding.com and searching for “Marie Benthall.”

The family invites friends and loved ones to leave their condolences at www.garrettsykesfs.com. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Garrett-Sykes Funeral Service, Ahoskie, NC 27910, (252) 332-3122.