At 95, unstoppable Dorothy Benson focuses on seniors’ issues

By Joe Earle

A little over three decades ago, as Dorothy Benson recalls it, there just weren’t that many activities for seniors in Fulton County.

So Benson and other advocates banded together and set to work. They lobbied Fulton officials and found support among the commissioners. They organized surveys of other communities to see what sorts of services they provided. Finally, a group of about 40 of them, including Benson, paid their own way for a three-day bus trip Baltimore to examine and experience that community’s senior centers.

Their work eventually led to the creation of Fulton County’s senior centers, including the one in Sandy Springs that bears Benson’ name, the Dorothy C. Benson Mulitpurpose Center at 6500 Vernon Woods Drive.

It’s a building where Benson herself, now 95 years old, regularly appears. She takes part in programs, dines in the cafeteria with other seniors (She’s particularly fond of “fish day” for the fried fish.), joins in the center bocce games and generally keeps an eye on things around the place. “She’s center one recent afternoon.

She’s around so much, she said, that some other senior center regulars say she should have her own parking place, but she doesn’t think that would be right. Besides, the walk to her car gives her exercise, she said. “She’s an everyday person,” Shoup said. “When she goes in [the center], she’ll wait in line like everybody else.”

The center showcases only part of Benson’s commitment to Fulton County seniors. She chairs the Fulton County Council on Aging, was the first chairman of Senior Services North Fulton, is a member of the Fulton County Commission on Elderly Affairs, has advised Grady Hospital and regularly speaks out on senior issues. Her calendar remains filled with meetings related to seniors’ issues.

“I’ve worked harder since I retired than I ever did before I retired,” Benson said.

Local officials take note. Last year, the Georgia Senate named Benson a “Distinguished Older Georgian,” saying she is “omnipresent, advocating for seniors at the Capitol or at municipality, county, or

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Three questions for Dorothy Benson

Q: Who are your heroes?

A: John Glenn, the late astronaut and U.S. senator. I admire what he did and how he carried into his old age. And I have a local one: Diane Williamson, executive director of The Council on Aging. She is one who pushed to get senior services in Fulton County. And she’s still in it. She’s the one who pushes it. She’s my hero.

Q: What’s your favorite recreational activity?

A: At the [Benson Multipurpose] Center, we have bocce courts.

Q: What’s your favorite book or movie, and why?

A: I don’t have any one book that’s a favorite. I like the ones Danielle Steel writes. The movie? That’s hard. I like the old movies. I like the Andy Griffith Show.

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