Eric Philip Benson

Dr. Eric P Benson passed away peacefully at the age of 96 on Tuesday morning September 15th, 2026 with his devoted daughter, Jennifer, at his side. Dad said often in these last few months that he had lived 95 great years, but he had a feeling that the 96th year was going to be a little more difficult. Always a caring, analytical physician, he was thoughtful and pragmatic about his own health into his last days.

Eric was born in London, England on May 14th, 1930 to Ewart and Gertrude Benson. He was the third son, joining brothers Russell and Garth Benson. At the age of 8, Dad joined his older brother Garth at St. Paul's Cathedral Choir school in the heart of London. Going off to school is common practice in those days and so Dad and Garth travel on the train and thankfully Garth kept a watchful eye upon his little brother at school. Two brothers together meant that each was given a new name of Benson Major and of course Benson Minor for the youngest. Dad still thought that was funny to this day. Those were tumultuous years in Britain as World War 2 escalated and for a time the entire school was evacuated to Truro Cornwall where they could be away safely from the bombings in London. Dad said it was hard to be further away from their parents, yet they all knew that was a safer place to be and he had fond memories of Truro and running around in the orchards and countryside. When the war ended, Dad and his brother Garth were part of the Victory in Europe VE Day Services of Thanksgiving held at St. Paul’s Cathedral, May 13th, 1945 with Winston Churchill and thousands in thankful celebration. Eric was a lifelong member of the Anglican/Episcopal church.

Dad excelled academically and was soon off to prep school at Dulwich College in London. Always a top scholar, he was then selected to attend University of London, St. Mary’s Medical School. Busy academic years followed and that is also where he met a lovely nursing student, Cynthia, and a new chapter began.

Eric and Cynthia married and spent their first years of marriage in lovely areas near Bath and Bristol while Dad completed his RAF Air Force years as a physician. Michael was born in Bath, August 1954.

Dad was always adventurous but took a cautionary note too. When they decided to move to Canada for Dad to be a family practitioner, he traveled first to St Johns, Newfoundland to make sure all was well before Cynthia and Michael travelled too. First to Flin Flon, Manitoba then to Maryfield, Saskatchewan where he practiced in a rural community.

Jennifer was born while they were living in Regina, Saskatchewan. A couple of years later, Dad decided to further specialize in interventional radiology and was accepted at the University of Oregon, Portland, OR.

Eric and Cynthia moved to Yakima in 1967 where Dad joined the radiology group Medical Center X-ray, now Yakima Valley Radiology YVR. Eric was in practice during amazing advances in interventional radiology and Dad was instrumental in establishing mammography, CT, and MRI here in Yakima. He was a past president of the Yakima County Medical Society. He published academic papers and was a Fellow of the American College of Radiology. He retired around 1997 and devoted more time to boating, golf and travel. He even joined a group from Yakima that trained and climbed Mt. Adams, and later Mt. St. Helens.

Throughout the Yakima years, tennis and fun dinners with friends, travel and grandchildren have kept Mom and Dad busy. Eric loved to learn new things at every step of his life. In his retirement years, he took up a new academic goal of learning duplicate bridge and becoming a points master. He loved playing bridge locally and in tournaments around the Pacific Northwest. He was very happy to achieve the gold master point level.

Eric is survived by his wife, Cynthia and son Michael Benson and his wife, Sarah of Olympia; daughter Jennifer and her husband, Al Schweppe of Yakima. Grandchildren Gwyneth (Matt) Lange, Brian (Nicole) Benson, Averell Rennie, and Nick Rennie. Great grandchildren Asher, Ava, and Addison. Eric is also survived by extended family and nieces in Great Britain.

We’d like to give our deepest thanks to the physicians and staff who have cared for Dad, especially these last 10 years. We give our thanks to Dr. Richard Hopp and Dr. Michael Stapleton, ophthalmologists who carefully preserved Dad’s vision and made sure he could see the bridge cards well! And a special thank you to the professional and caring staff at The Terraces – Summitview Hillcrest- thank you for the amazing care these last 5 months. Dad was playing afternoon bridge just a few days before he passed away and enjoying dinner table company and we thank you for his most excellent care.

Eric was always a caring physician, and leader in the medical community, and even in his last weeks, was encouraging his caregivers to further their medical education and dream big. To that end, we ask that if you would like to honor our father with a memorial, please direct memorial contributions to Dr. Eric P. Benson Scholarship, Yakima Valley Radiologic Sciences Program, c/o Keith and Keith, 902 W Yakima Avenue, Yakima WA 98902.

A celebration of life for Dr. Eric P. Benson will be held Sunday October 11th at noon, at the Lodge at Cascade Garden, 5704 W Washington Avenue, Yakima, WA.