Muriel Ethelene Benfield

Muriel E. Benfield, fondly known as “The Rose Lady” of Rainbow Springs, died on October 7th, 2025 at the age of 105.   Muriel was born on August 29, 1920 in Pomeroon, Guyana, the daughter of Cyril Millington and Sarah Garraway. She was a skilled seamstress, and also did embroidery and crocheting. She utilized these skills to support her family. Some of the clothing she made were for prominent Guyanese.

In 1964, Muriel immigrated to the United States and shortly after began a career as a compliance specialist with the New York office of Merrill Lynch that lasted 23 years. In her late sixties, she began taking piano lessons at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.  She believed playing classical music was beautiful and relaxing.

After retiring from Merrill Lynch, she built her dream house in Rainbow Springs, Florida at the age of seventy-one.   Muriel created her own rainbow garden with more than 200 rose bushes of all varieties and colors.  They were everywhere, planted in large beds alongside the house in high banks and across the entire backyard.  It was her passion for roses that led her neighbors to name her “The Rose Lady”. Muriel became a lifetime member of The Rose Society and a charter member and director of the Marion County Rose Society. Her backyard was also adorned with orange, persimmon, and papaya trees.

When she was not tending to her roses, Muriel continued her weekly piano lessons. She loved playing the classical music of Mozart and Chopin on her precious baby grand piano.   Her visitors and family often woke up to beautiful classical music which could be heard melodiously throughout the house.

Another one of her passions was traveling, and she visited five continents with her daughter Pamela during her retirement. She walked on the Great Wall of China and went on a safari in Africa.

Notwithstanding all of her accomplishments, she was most proud of being a mother to her three children, Pamela, Ronald, and Julian, all of whom survive her. She is also survived by three grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and fifteen nieces and nephews.

Her three siblings, her brother Ivan, and her sisters Alice and Estelle, preceded her in death.

A funeral service for her will be held at noon, on October 17th at Roberts Funeral Home in Dunnellon, Florida. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to the Marion County Rose Society, 310 San Marino Dr. The Villages, FL 32159 or to St. John The Baptist Catholic Church foodbank, 7525 S US Highway 41, Dunnellon, FL 34432.