Shannon McLelland-Bench's Obituary
Shannon McLelland-Bench, 73, of Magna, Utah was born in Salt Lake City to Donald McLelland and Wilma Kooyman. She was the youngest of 4 daughters: Dawn (Martinsen), Marilyn (Cobbley), and Julie (Smart-Winter). She grew up on Milne Lane in Midvale during the 60’s and graduated from Hillcrest Highschool, class of ’68. After graduation, she attended beauty school and was a beautician. She married Phil Bench in 1973 and moved to New Jersey and finally Connecticut until the early 80’s when Phil’s job brought them back to Utah. They had 4 children together: Ryan (Trisha), Scott (Tami), Shauna, and Steven. The family lived in Willow Creek until a divorce separated the family in 1989. Shuana and Steven opted to stay with Shannon, while Ryan and Scott lived with Phil.
Shannon had several jobs throughout her life with the most notable being Avon, Kmart in Murray, Utah Crafts in Midvale, Olive Garden in Murray, OC tanner in SLC, and McFrugal’s in Sandy and Murray. She enjoyed her time working and making friends at each of these jobs and stayed in contact with many of her coworkers years after moving on to the next job. She was passionate about animals and had many different pets throughout her life and took in and rehabilitated many animals over the years. Her favorites were her horse she had as a young girl, Shane; her dogs Cocoa, Sam, and Katie; and her cats Snoopy, Tigger, Smokey, and Taz.
Growing up, Shannon enjoyed painting and singing with her sisters. She was also a big fan of movies and music. She enjoyed films like “Fiddler on The Roof”, “The King and I”, and “What’s Up, Doc”, but her favorite was the 1980 comedy “Airplane” (yes, that Airplane). When it came to music, Motown was her favorite, hands down. Mitch Rider & The Detroit Wheels, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, the list goes on and on. However, nothing came close to her love of the Jackson Family, especially Michael Jackson. She followed his career from The Jackson 5 in the 60’s and early 70’s to their rebranding in the late 70’s as “The Jacksons”, continuing with his solo career from a young “Got to Be There”, to his big breakthrough “Off the Wall”, and finally the chart-crushing albums “Thriller”, “Bad”, and “Dangerous”. She loved it all and remained a fan her entire life. These passions were shared frequently and unabashed with everyone, especially her family.
Shannon was so proud of and loved her nine grandchildren more than it can be expressed in writing. They are: Alexia, Cadin, Elise, Caitlin, Caleb, Tristin, Scout, Savannah, and Violet. She looked forward spending time with any and all of them whenever she could and would frequently send them cards letting them know she was thinking of them. Those thoughtful cards will certainly be missed.
The Family would like to thank the following: Her brother-in-law Clyde, the staff at St. Joseph’s Villa and all of her friends on the 3rd floor, especially her roommate Dixie, the doctors and nurses at IMC’s Heart and Lung Center for making her comfortable in her last moments, and the Hillcrest 9th and the Lake Ridge 9th Wards for their never-ending love and service.
Shannon’s final wish was to be cremated. A celebration of life will be held later in the year when the weather warms up and friends and family can gather in the outdoors which she loved so much. In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make a donation to the Humane Society of Utah.
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