Aaron L. Benjamin, 78, a retired urban planner who became a development officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, died June 13 of complications from pneumonia at a hospital in Ashland, Ore. He moved to Ashland from Arlington County in 1998. Mr. Benjamin joined USAID in 1967 and specialized in housing and redevelopment programs while serving in Egypt, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. He retired in 1989. Aaron Leon Benjamin was born in New York City and was a graduate of Brooklyn College. He received a master’s degree in city planning from New York University in 1959. Before joining USAID, he was an urban planner and housing specialist in New York, California and Switzerland. He was director of planning and development in Elizabeth, N.J., from 1965 to 1967. Mr. Benjamin was a member of several planning and foreign service organizations and collected art and antiquities from Latin America. He played jazz bass and Spanish guitar and enjoyed photography. Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Judith Greifer Benjamin of Ashland; two children, Cynthia Benjamin of the District and Robert Benjamin of Ashland; and a brother. Donations in his honor can be sent to Habitat for Humanity. Comments posted here will be sent to his family. (originally written by Matt Strudel, source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/05/AR2010070502614.html)
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