She was born Sally Patricia Clark in Rockford, Illinois on December 28, 1933. She was the youngest daughter of Joe Clark and Kathryn Stevenson Clark. Her sisters were Margaret Ann and Kitty Jo Clark. Sally’s father died when she was four years old and the girls moved to Dardanelle, Arkansas to live with her grandparents, James and Grace Stevenson. Sally grew up and went to grade school and high school in Dardanelle. While in high school Sally was an excellent student, cheerleader, and won the Miss Dardanelle beauty contest, as described in an article of which was written in the local paper. After high school she attended Arkansas Tech College, across the Arkansas river in the neighboring town of Russellville, majoring in home economics.
During her freshman year in college, Sally met her future husband, Albert Benight, an older senior from North Little Rock. Albert was a football and track athlete, navy and army veteran and aspiring football coach. They married in June 1952 after Albert graduated.
Sally and Albert moved to Gillette, Arkansas where Albert was a teacher and coach. While living in Gillette, their oldest son, Steven was born in 1954. Soon after, the new family moved to Gallup, New Mexico where Albert had taken a teaching and coaching position. When first in Gallup, Sally worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was an original founder of the First Presbyterian Church in Gallup. Her second son, Barry was born on Sally’s 24th birthday, 1957. After Barry was born, Sally quit working outside the home and focused on being a mother and coach’s wife. Almost two years later, in October 1959, her third son Clark was born. In 1962, Albert took a job in Portland, Oregon teaching and coaching football and track at Cleveland High School in southeast Portland. They lived in the Laurelhurst neighborhood in northeast Portland.
Immediately upon arriving in Portland, with Steve in school and Clark and Barry with a babysitter, Sally enrolled full time in Portland State College graduating in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in History and Education. Two years later in 1966 Sally received her master’s degree in teaching from Portland State University. Sally’s entire teaching career was spent at Harold Oliver School in the Lynch school district in northeast Portland where she taught 7th and 8th grade reading and literature for 25 years. One of her students’ favorite projects was writing their autobiography which was a fun and creative way to apply the important reading and writing skills learned in her classes. The next decade was spent raising her family with many local and cross-country trips in a station wagon pulling a travel trailer with three kids and a dog.
With her boys off at college, Sally and Albert enjoyed a couple of years together as empty nesters and enjoyed traveling and socializing with friends at happy hour. Unfortunately, Albert died unexpectedly in 1981 leaving her widowed at age 47. Sally continued working and in 1982 married Jim Seeborg, a third generation Oregonian, Astoria native, and Boeing employee. Shortly after getting married, Sally and Jim bought a boathouse on the Columbia River. Jim had a nice boat, and they made many good friends and had a lot of fun parties on the river. Shortly after marrying, Jim retired and they started a travel agency, Total Travel Consulting, which they operated for over a decade. During that time, they also traveled on a number of cruises. Sally truly loved cruising, dressing for formal dinners every night and the endless shopping on board the ship and at various ports of call. In total, Sally and Jim cruised all over the world on 66 cruises.
Sally taught school until her retirement in 1992. In the same year Sally and Jim moved to Summerplace in far east Multnomah County. In retirement Sally and Jim enjoyed a relaxing life at Summerplace, spending time at the Boathouse and taking several cruises a year. During that time, every summer Sally and Jim enjoyed visits from their granddaughter Stephanie who came to visit for a month. In 2004, after returning from one of their cruises, Sally suffered a serious stroke leaving her partially paralyzed on her right side that also affected her speech. After rehabilitation for about a year, Sally and Jim resumed cruises and lived an adjusted life. The stroke did set Sally back as it left her unable to write and with limited mobility. She was also no longer able to sew or bake, two of her favorite hobbies. Fortunately, she was still able to read which she continued to enjoy. Despite her new disability, Sally was able to lead a relatively normal life. Sadly, Jim passed away in 2017, leaving Sally alone after 34 years of marriage. In 2018 Sally met Ray Turner, and they shared three wonderful years together. They went on three cruises and were lovers until her death. Sally enjoyed a long and active life, three children, three grandchildren, three husbands and 70 cruises. She was a wonderful, loving and sweet person and will be sorely missed.
Sally is survived by Ray Turner, her sons Steve (Jane) of Portland, Barry (Joyce) of Parker, Texas and Clark (Melanie) of Portland, nephew Jim Gentry (Artis) of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, niece Melissa Haglund (Michael) of Portland, and three grandchildren Stephanie Benight (Zachary Hill) of Vancouver Washington, Kathryn Lemay (Francois) of Bedford, New Hampshire and Patrick Benight, USN, Honolulu, Hawaii.
A celebration of her life will be held at noon on Sunday October 17, at the Summerplace home at 2416 NE 153rd Place, Portland.
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