Gertrude Edita Benedict
Gertrude was born October 30, 1909 in Seattle, Washington. She passed away August 17, 2003 in Auburn, Washington at the age of 93 years. Gertrude was an only child of “Jim” Harty, manager of the New Washington Hotel of Seattle and Mathilde E., a socialite from New York City. She was raised up in a hotel environment and her athletic father taught her to play baseball. She could pitch a baseball like a big league player and played for the Seattle Indians, a precursor of the Seattle Mariners as the only girl player in the 1932 Northwestern League. She played exhibition and special games for years. Gertrude, usually called “Geri”, married Porter William Benedict, a tool design engineer at Boeing, and helped raise his 4 children of a previous marriage. They are Barbara, Fredrick, Douglas and James, who is presumed deceased. Geri worked for Montgomery Ward as a cashier and took care of her ailing mother until her mother’s death in 1983. Geri then became a recluse until 1998 when the county reclaimed her home for the new Kent 124th SE Street School. Ruth and Carroll White then adopted her at the age of 87. Visitation Friday, August 22, 2003, 9:00 AM – 12:45 PM with Graveside Services at 1:00 PM all at Bonney-Watson Washington Memorial, 16445 Pacific Hwy. S. SeaTac. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Calvary Baptist Church, 1032 Edmonds Ave. NE, Renton, WA 98056.
