Christopher Michael Benson

Christopher Michael Benson, born December 20, 2004, fought a long battle with Alexander Disease. His spirit was vibrant but his body was tired. He left his earthly body on March 24, 2019, surrounded by his loving family.

Christopher is survived by parents Michael and Aide Benson; siblings Mark Benson, Matthew Benson, Stephanie Dabbs and spouse Dalton; grandparents Frank and Bertha Lara, Robert Benson, Anita Holt; great grandmother Gloria Del Val; nephew Leo Dabbs; aunts and uncles Irene and Fred Defesche, Frank and Brandy Lara, Paul and Amariah Benson; cousins Lauren, Joshua, Frank, Jacob, Emily, Skyler, and Erika.

While Christopher never uttered a single word in his life, for those that knew him and how to listen, he spoke volumes with his eyes, infectious smile and sounds. He lived vicariously through his brothers often laughing at their antics. Before this disease robbed him of the ability to move on his own, Christopher was a mischievous rascal who would constantly climb up onto a train table we had in the living room and crawl across the floor to dad’s CD case. We should have recognized this early obsession with CD’s as Christopher loved anything musical and had a wide range of tastes: from his dad’s golden oldie favorites, some of his nurses’ preferences like Queen and the Beatles, to more modern stuff mom would turn on. Christopher had a large collection of musicals that ranged from Disney to A Sound of Music to Les Miserables.

While Christopher never learned to walk and lost the ability to stand and crawl at an early age, he was a traveler. He went to Disney World more times than most folks do in a lifetime. He traveled to the nation’s capital to visit nearly every museum and monument there and watch a Fourth of July fireworks show not far from the Washington Monument. Christopher visited Raleigh and Philadelphia in search of a cure for this terrible disease. He got to visit Niagara Falls while in Buffalo where he met Hall of Famer Jim Kelly and a bunch of other special kids and families at Hunter’s Hope. Christopher visited other states to spend time with family; his feet have touched the ocean in California, he experienced the deep woods of Minnesota lake cabin life that is so dear to his dad, climbed the hills in Tennessee and crossed the plains of Texas to El Paso.

Christopher loved human interaction. He would light up whenever someone would come talk to him or engage him with reading. He loved the Harry Potter and Land of Stories series. He also loved participating in events at school. We are forever grateful to his music teacher Mrs. Brunson for incorporating Christopher into her school programs where he had his first feature part as the director of Lights Camera Action in third grade and subsequent roles as a pirate and zombie in later years.

Christopher loved the outdoors and went for long walks with mom and dad and his nurses. He enjoyed being out on the lake on the boat with the sun on his face and wind in his hair.

There are so many people that loved and cared for Christopher from all over the world; we would like to thank for all your love, prayers and support over the years. We would like to especially thank Christopher’s nurses Alnita, Candice, Lynn, Mollie and Adrienne for the exceptional care and love they provided him.

Visitation will be held on Friday, April 5, 2019 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. with a Rosary at 7:00 p.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish Lake Travis Chapel.

A Memorial Mass will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, 2019 at Emmaus Catholic Church, 1718 Lohmans Crossing Road in Lakeway.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Alexander’s Disease research in Christopher’s memory: Graysonsladder.org or any children’s charity of your choice.