'Always looking to serve the greater good:' David Benjamin, Aurora lawyer, educator, dies

David Benjamin, an Aurora attorney and educator, died July 8 at his home. He was the husband of Aurora Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin.

Friends and family remembered Benjamin as a man with a passion for his family, politics and golf. They said he was always looking to help others, whether he was providing legal advice, introducing them to political leaders or taking them golfing.

"My family and I feel keenly the loss of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, for whom family was everything," Womer Benjamin said. "We so appreciate the outpouring of sympathy, support and love from the community and I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart."

Benjamin, a native of Massachusetts, earned his bachelor's degree at Boston University and his law degree at Case Western Reserve Law School, where he met his wife. In addition to his law career, he taught at Case Western Reserve, the law school at the University of Akron and at Hiram College.

Municipal Court Judge Kevin Poland said he first met Benjamin when both were working at the Portage County Prosecutor's Office. Benjamin, he said, took him on as a mentor, and his door was always open to Poland.

"He was generous with his time, generous with his golf," he said. "He was always looking to serve the greater good."

Poland said he just saw Benjamin a few weeks ago at the Portage County Democratic Party headquarters, where he was offering to help in any way he could.

Chad Hawks, a magistrate in the Portage County Common Pleas Court, said he first met Benjamin when he was in law school at the University of Akron, and Benjamin was his professor. Later, they bonded over their shared experience of working at the prosecutor's office and taught a course together at Hiram College.

"He was a funny, gregarious guy," he said. "He had a wealth of knowledge from serving as a law director in Northeast Ohio communities. He always brought it back to a love for Cape Cod, for food, for his family, for golf."

When they taught together at Hiram, Hawks said Benjamin was "nice and generous" and showed him the ropes of teaching the course. Hawks still teaches at Hiram, and will be teaching the course he once taught with Benjamin this fall.

Aurora Law Director Dean DePiero said when he was first hired as law director, Benjamin offered to connect him with many Portage County lawyers and sitting judges so he could familiarize himself with the legal workings of Portage County.

"It was very helpful and very thoughtful of him," he said. "He was a really smart lawyer, a great family man and an awesome friend."

Benjamin was president of the Aurora chapter of Public Employee Retirees Inc. and served on the board of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce. His passions were family, politics and golf, and was a longtime member of the Canterbury Golf Club. He also played at award-winning courses around the world.

Kathleen Wurm Kolar, a member of Public Employee Retirees Inc., said Benjamin was "a quiet guy" who was "well known and loved in Aurora."

"His hobbies were golf and more golf," she said.

Benjamin took an interest in PERI members, offering them advice on issues such as Medicare. When statewide candidates were on the ballot, he would bring them to meetings to speak and so members could ask questions "so we could vote wisely," Kolara said. "They weren't just a name on a piece of paper."

He also arranged for theater students and musicians at Aurora schools to perform at the organization's meetings throughout the year and represented the group in Columbus.

In addition to his wife of 45½, he is survived by his daughters, Katherine Womer Benjamin (Michael Carroll) of Long Island and Johanna Womer Benjamin of Washington, D.C.; two grandchildren, Nancy and Linden Benjamin Carroll; sisters, Elizabeth Bruneau of Worcester, Massachusetts and Susan Ploof (Stan) of The Villages, Florida; and sister-in-law, Margaret Namie (Marc) of Cincinnati; along with nephews and nieces.

Visitation will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at The Church in Aurora, 146 S. Chillicothe, Aurora, where a memorial service will take place at 1:30 p.m.

Memorial donations can be made to golf caddie scholarships through the Evans Scholars Program.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: David Benjamin, Aurora lawyer, educator, dies