Community Mourns Sudden Passing of Rivertown Feed Owner

Friends and family are mourning the sudden death of Tamara Lewis-Benson, a Petaluma business owner, who succumbed to lung cancer this Saturday. She was 51.

Tamara Lewis-Benson, or Tami as her friends called her, was the co-owner of , a pet and feed store on First Street which she ran with her husband Don. The business celebrated its 100^th anniversary earlier this year.

Friends described Lewis-Benson’s passing as extremely sudden. The avid tennis player had been feeling ill following her return from a vacation in Italy in October, but did not find out she had cancer until just three days before her death.

"She went to 10 different doctors, but they all thought it was something else," said her daughter, Marissa. "Her blood work was all over the place."

“It literally happened overnight,” said Kendra Caffarella, a friend of the family. “It was completely and totally out of the blue.”

Lewis-Benson’s family has deep roots in Petaluma, establishing themselves as chicken and dairy farmers in the 1800s. Bar Ale, the farm supply company, was founded by Tami's grandfather and father and in 1992, Don and Tami purchased the retail store from the family.

Bar Ale became Rivertown Feed in 2001. 

Besides owning the feed store, Lewis-Benson was active in her church, the United Church of Christ, where she taught Sunday school. Earlier this year she helped establish an after-school tennis program for low-income kids in Rohnert Park, where she lived.

She was also involved in art therapy through the Center for Creative Art Therapies in Santa Rosa. 

"She was always trying to help so many causes," said Marissa Benson.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among American men and women, claiming more lives than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control. 

Lewis-Benson is survived by her husband Don, children Keith and Marissa, her parents and a granddaughter.

A memorial service has been scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 15 at , 825 Middlefield Dr. at 11am.