Rebecca ‘Becky’ Benaroya, Seattle philanthropist, dies at 103 | Entertainment

Rebecca “Becky” Benaroya, whose philanthropy forever changed Seattle’s cultural landscape, died Wednesday in Palm Springs, Calif. She was 103.

Together with her late husband, real estate developer Jack Benaroya, Becky Benaroya championed dozens of arts, humanitarian and civic organizations including the Seattle Symphony. In the early ’90s, after a lunch conversation between her husband and then-Seattle Symphony Music Director Gerard Schwarz, the Benaroyas pledged $15 million for a new symphony hall. Benaroya Hall opened its doors in 1998.

“Becky’s passing is a profound loss for all of us,” Leslie Jackson Chihuly, Benaroya Hall board chair, said in a statement. “It has been the honor of a lifetime for me and Dale to have been close friends of Jack and Becky’s and to have worked with them to create the super arts and culture ecosystem we enjoy in Seattle today.” 

Born in Seattle in 1923, Rebecca Benoun met her future husband, Jack Benaroya, when they were both students at Garfield High School. The two wed on Valentine’s Day, 1942, and were married for 70 years, until Jack died in 2012. 

Throughout those years, the Benaroyas shared a love of the arts and a love of Seattle, the city they called home.

In the 1970s the Benaroyas became early supporters of the Pilchuck Glass School in Snohomish County, as glass artist Dale Chihuly’s star was rising, and went on to amass a substantial art collection in which glasswork was well-represented.

In 2016, at age 93, Benaroya pledged to donate 225 works from their art and glass collection to the Tacoma Art Museum, along with $14 million to expand the museum’s space. 

In a statement at the time, Benaroya said she “approached TAM for many reasons; chief among them was the museum’s focus on Northwest art … finding the right home for our works is a very personal matter.” TAM’s 6,595-square-foot Benaroya Wing opened in 2019. 

In addition to TAM and Seattle Symphony, the Benaroyas supported arts organizations including ACT Theatre and The 5th Avenue Theatre, educational outfits such as the University of Washington and the College Success Foundation, and many more.

“Becky was a builder; she brought thoughtfulness, determination, and genuine heart to everything she undertook,” Jackson Chihuly said. “Her love for the arts and her extraordinary generosity touched countless lives and strengthened our community in extraordinary ways across all aspects of our civic life.”

Medical research was another important priority for the Benaroyas, who funded the Benaroya Diabetes Center and Research Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center and supported the nonprofit senior care organization Kline Galland.

In the Coachella Valley in Southern California, where Benaroya spent her winters in recent years, she supported the McCallum Theatre, Eisenhower Medical Center and the Palm Springs Art Museum. For 28 years, she also volunteered at Sunny Sands Elementary School in Palm Springs, reading with first and third graders. 

Benaroya, whose Sephardic parents immigrated to Seattle from Turkey and Greece, was also a tireless advocate for Seattle’s Jewish community and a supporter of organizations including the Washington State Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Federation and Council of Seattle. That advocacy briefly touched controversy in 2022, when the University of Washington returned a $5 million gift she’d pledged to the university’s Israel Studies Program after the program head, who held an endowed chair in Benaroya’s name, signed a statement critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza. 

Becky Benaroya is survived by her children Larry (Sherry) and Donna, both of Seattle, and Alan of San Diego, four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

She undoubtedly passes on her family legacy of giving, which Benaroya reflected on in a 2001 interview with Jewish Women’s Archive as she remembered lessons learned from her beloved Turkish grandfather.

“What I loved about him was a live-and-let-live-attitude,” Benaroya said. “He never thought that money was important. He always felt that it’s a gift while you’re on this earth. The most important thing is a good name; that’s what you leave when you leave this earth.” 

Material from The Seattle Times archives is included in this report.