Keohane Funeral Home

Weldon (Don) P. Benjamin of Hingham passed away at home on November 16, 2019 at the age of 86. Don courageously battled Alzheimer’s.

Don is predeceased by his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Louis B. Benjamin, twin children Timothy and Thomas, and his grandchildren, Michael and Elizabeth Benjamin. Don is survived by his loving wife Katharine “Katie” Ford Benjamin of 59 years of Hingham and Marina Bay, Quincy; sisters Janice Mullen and her husband Gene of Norwell and Constance Kelly and her husband Gerry of Plymouth.

Don leaves his sons Peter Benjamin and Peter’s wife Karen of Brewster; Michael Benjamin of Hingham; daughters Brooke Diesel-Veith and Brooke’s husband Cary of Sarasota, FL and Polly Pearson and her husband Kurt of Westborough; his grandchildren from Peter: Sara, Michael and Esme; his grandchildren from Michael: Charlie and Harry; his grandchildren from Brooke: William, Caroline and Ariana; and his grandchildren from Polly: Sophie, Margo, and Oscar; as well as his great-grandchildren from Peter’s son Michael and daughter-in-law Kristen: Logan and Paisley, and many nieces and nephews.

Don was known for his charm, dapper style, Hollywood looks, and non-judgmental manner. He loved to burst joyfully into song and waltz with the love of his life, Katie.  Don wooed young Katie with his 1957 Red Ford Thunderbird Convertible while Katie was finishing up at college and working at Hugo’s Restaurant in Cohasset. They were married 59 years ago at St. Anthony’s Church in Cohasset followed by what was to be a garden reception at Katie’s family home on Jerusalem Road. A hurricane set in on the day of their wedding and in duress the neighboring boarded up hotel, the Blackrock, was opened, cobwebs swept away, and big band dancing ensued under wild winds and surging tide.

Don was born in 1933, the same year his dad graduated from Harvard Medical School and was raised in Weymouth.  He spent his boyhood summering on Oceanside Drive in Scituate where he formed his lifelong love of the ocean. Don attended St. Marks as well as The Kent School, representing football and crew programs and graduated from Kent in 1952. He went on to graduate from Boston University in 1957 majoring in Public Relations. In his first career he rose to the executive ranks within the insurance industry.

In 1969 Don relocated to Holden, MA where he raised his family and built a successful second career as a proud, independent salesman traveling throughout New England representing greeting card companies. While he traveled extensively, he managed to coach his sons’ baseball team, the Holden Cougars, to first place year after year. Dapper Don always wore his Nantucket Reds. It became a superstition. The boys’ parents expected Don to wear his ‘pink’ slacks, for if he did, there was an automatic W in the books. Don coached farm league then moved onto little league coaching his boys for the Holden Red Sox and loving every minute. In sports, if Don wasn’t coaching his sons at baseball or football, he was in the stands and never missed a game for any of his children. Don was especially proud watching his sons play football at St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury, Mass.

Don was an avid supporter of strong and bright women as can be seen in the respect he continually showed for the careers of his wife and his daughters. Don was the biggest champion of his daughters’ professional accomplishments and relished his calls with them to hear their latest developments and achievements.

In 1984 Don returned to the South Shore and re-established his family’s 1950’s membership to the Scituate Harbor Yacht Club (SHYC). He and wife Katie spent many of their final years together living in Hingham and summering in Scituate at the family-famous cottage “The Peanut” on Lighthouse Road where his grandchildren often gathered.

Don is remembered for being a devoted husband, a “jackpot” of a dad, his conversion to Catholicism ten years ago, an avid cribbage player, and for his involvement in the choirs at both St. Gregory’s of Dorchester, St. Paul’s of Hingham and with the Opals singing group.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend the visiting hours on Thursday 5-7 PM in the Pyne Keohane Funeral Home, 21 Emerald St. (off Central St.), HINGHAM. A Celebration of Life Service will be held in the funeral home at 9:15 AM on Friday prior to the Funeral Mass in St. Paul’s Church, Hingham at 10 AM. Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Weldon Benjamin may be made to support children suffering with leukemia to Floating Hospital at Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington St. Boston, MA 02111 or the non-profit Family Reach, which provides services and relief for children with leukemia and their families, at 142 Berkeley Street, 3^rd Floor, Boston, MA 02116.