Reneta Benenati

Kinderhook- Reneta "Renee" Krawczyk Benenati passed away surrounded by her loving family on October 30, 2025. Renee was born on July 29, 1928. A resident of Kinderhook for over forty-five years, Renee was a talented artist and teacher, as well as a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Buffalo State Teachers College at SUNY Buffalo, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Albright Art School, and a master's degree from Columbia University. Renee went on to share her technical skills and love of art, working as an art teacher for many years at the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk District School. She is predeceased by her husband, veteran Carl George Benenati, and her daughter-in-law Rita Benenati, and survived by her sisters, Lauree Bunting and Josephine Krawczyk.

Known to all as a social leader in the community, Renee acted as president for a number of organizations including the Capital District Art Teachers Association, the New York State Art Teachers Association, and The Garden Club of Kinderhook, planning and hosting many successful events throughout her tenure. Ever the enthusiastic joiner, she was the District Director of the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State, a docent at the James Vanderpoel House, and a member of both the Friends of Lindenwald and the Shaker Doll Club. Renee was a spirited collector and a warm, nurturing presence, who could often be found tending to her garden with her impressive green thumb.

The matriarch of a large family, Renee enjoyed many happy years with her three children and their families; Carl Benenati and his partner Sonnet Kennedy Gravina, Jenay Evans and her husband, David Evans, and Ranee Csigay and her husband, Stefan Csigay. She lives on as a doting and proud grandmother in the hearts of her many grandchildren and their spouses; Kara Evans (Brendan Mason), Nicole Brennan (Aaron Tilley), Thomas Evans (Karissa Evans), Amanda Csigay, Kirsten Evans (Cameron MacIntosh), and Melissa Csigay (Jonathan Deleeuw), and her two great-grandchildren, Adalyn Evans and Alexander Evans-Mason.

She will be remembered fondly by all who knew her.

Renee's Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, November 7, 2025, at St. John the Baptist Church, 1025 Kinderhook St. Valatie, NY 12184. She will be inurned at Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery at a later date.