Benne Susan Willerman

Benné Susan Willerman (née Secter) was born in Chicago on June 10, 1941, to Belle Abend and Irving Isaac Secter, arriving ten years after her older brother, Morton. At age 20, one week before graduation day from Roosevelt University, Benné married the love of her life, Lee Willerman. In addition to his charm and academic ambition, Lee had impressed the studious Benné with his originality in first date ideas by taking her to the racetrack to bet on the horses. For her graduation present, her parents offered her a choice: a trip to Europe or a wedding. She chose to wed the man she loved. Benné holds a Bachelor's in Music, a Master's in Anthropology from American University, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin. Her passion for music remained a constant companion throughout her studies and her life. She taught music to young children at the Yamaha Music School, sang in the chorus of the Austin Lyric Opera, and performed in Man of La Mancha. Enamored of the soulfulness of Jewish music she served as the Cantor at Congregation Beth Israel in Austin. When her voice began to fade in her fifties, an early sign of the Parkinson’s disease she faced valiantly, it was a profound loss. Still, she surrounded herself with many different kinds of music. Moving to Austin in the mid-1970s suited her. She could never get enough of the Texas sun, and one would frequently find her at a neighborhood swimming pool or doing yard work in her bikini. She was an avid reader, the kind who always had three books nearby. She loved languages and delighted in speaking French. She parlayed this love of language into a career of teaching English as a Second Language, connecting deeply with her students, learning their stories, and celebrating their cultures. At home, Benné and Lee shared the verbal passion of the game, Scrabble. They played competitively, both with each other and in tournaments, filling notebooks with the scores of their battles. Their games were fierce, playful, and full of the kind of companionship that comes from decades of loving someone’s mind as much as their heart. Within the privacy of our family, people called her Bean, a shortened version of her name but also a reference to “full of beans,” in how much energy Benné brought to all aspects of her rich and passionate life. Benné died on April 2, 2026, in Austin, surrounded by the city and the memories that shaped her life. She is survived by her daughters, Raquel Willerman (Warren Levy) and Amiel Romain (Trevor Romain); her grandsons, Isaac Lee Steinberg and Noah Warren Steinberg; and her beloved grand-dogs, Benny, Shrimpy, and Stan. She is remembered with enduring love by the caring and compassionate communities of Westminster and Hospice Austin.

Benne Susan Willerman

June 10, 1941 - April 2, 2026