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Benz busy in Quincy
JoAnne Fowler/Post-Register
Audrey Benz enjoys traveling, camping and speed boating.
Audrey Benz is glad to be living in Quincy, Washington because of the wonderful people and beautiful scenery and because it is dry.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Benz is grateful to live in a place that does not flood. As a youngster, Benz moved with her family to Napa, Calif. and, when visiting her older sisters in San Diego, met her future husband, Dan. A native of Quincy, Dan Benz served in the Navy and worked off the coast of Southern California.
“My husband was on a mine sweeper when we met over 30 years ago. I was in the 11th grade and he told me I had to graduate before he’d marry me,” said Benz.
Benz graduated June 5 and the two married June 30. They will celebrate 30 married years this week.
The Benz family made their home in the San Diego area until 1983, when they moved with the military north to Mirror Island.
“We were nearer to my mother in Napa at that time,” said Benz of the 11 miles that now separated them.
When their daughter, Shannon, was 3, the Benzes moved to Spokane and then to Seattle where their son, Devon, was born in 1985.
“He was the only boy at the Northwest Hospital when he was born and there were over 20 girls at the same time,” remembers Benz.
She recalls that the nurses lined up the baby girls in their pink blankets around Devon in his blue blanket to take a picture.
The Benzes moved permanently to Quincy in the early 1990s, where both children attended the Quincy schools. Shannon is now the manager of the local Shell station and Devon is a bull rider. Although Benz does not yet have any grandchildren, daughter Shannon is planning her wedding to Yuma, Ariz. native, Tim Long, next summer. The wedding will be held at her grandparents’ house in Quincy.
Benz’ husband, Dan, is Chief Petty Officer (ret.) Benz, who now works as a shop manager for Quincy Shop for Grant County. He is the son of Bev and Tom Petrak. Benz’ also has other relatives in the area, including a sister-in-law and her husband and two nieces and also a niece in Wenatchee.
Her hobbies include taking care of people and working.
“I love to clean houses, it’s my calling,” she shared. “It was something that my mother passed on to me.” Benz takes care of several homes for older area residents.
“I used to enjoy embroidery and baking, but I don’t have a lot of spare time and I have arthritis in my fingers, now,” she said.
Her first job in Quincy was working at the McDonalds.
“I worked there for three or four years and I liked it for awhile. I also worked security at the Gorge. It was a place to meet interesting people and it was before 9/11, so it was looser and a lot more fun,” Benz said.
Other past jobs for Benz include driving a combine and working at the Jackpot Convenience Store. She currently works alongside her daughter, who is the manager of the Shell Gas Station.
“I’m a cashier and I fill in the afternoon hours between shifts,” said Benz.
Benz, who enjoys helping others, will get away to Colorado next month to help her sister, who is moving. She also looks forward to her yearly getaways that have included visiting Birch Bay on the Canadian border and Seaside, Ore.
“We like to go camping every year.”
The family also enjoys speed boating in the Sun Lakes area and they just celebrated a family reunion at Benz’ house with 16 family members who traveled from California, Ohio and Oklahoma.
