Covenant News

Service Held for Laura Keiko Benson, 17

ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CA (April 15, 2004) - A memorial service was held this afternoon at Rolling Hills Covenant Church for Laura Keiko Benson, a high school student who died April 6 while participating at a church group-sponsored youth camp in Northern California.

According to a news report by the Torrance (CA) Daily Breeze, Benson died in a Yreka hospital after eating a rice-crisp treat containing peanuts during a church spring break trip to Kidder Creek Camp. The 17-year-old Peninsula High School student apparently was highly allergic to peanuts, though she had not been aware of it. The Siskiyou County sheriff-coroner's office listed the cause of death as anaphylactic shock due to food containing peanut butter.

About 50 teens from Rolling Hills Covenant were in Northern California helping renovate a children's camp near the California-Oregon border. High school youth pastor Shawn Hurley was quoted in the newspaper story as stating that Benson ate the treat during lunch and had at first thought her asthma was causing some breathing difficulties. When church youth leaders determined that she couldn't breath properly, they called 911 and she was immediately taken to the hospital.

Known for her stellar singing voice, Benson had the lead role in a recent high school performance of "A Chorus Line" and had been involved with Peninsula's Varsity Voices – the group sang during the memorial service. Benson also participated in The Young Americans, a nationally acclaimed group, and sang in the Soul Lifter Band, which performs during her church's contemporary Saturday night services.

Benson is survived by her mother, Dee, and sister, Jessica. Her father, Kenneth, died before she was born.

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