Elizabeth Benson Kemp, Activist and Sister-in-Law of Jack Kemp, Dies at 63

Elizabeth Benson Kemp, who was active in raising funds for artistic, political and social service organizations, died at home Sunday in Laguna Beach. She was 63.

Mrs. Kemp, the sister-in-law of Jack Kemp, secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Bush Administration, was a founding member of Angels of the Arts, a group that raises funds for the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

She was also a trustee with Human Options, a South Laguna center that provides counseling services and temporary residence to battered women and their children.

“That was a very important part of her life,” said her husband, Thomas P. Kemp, co-chairman of the U.S. Committee to Assist Russian Reform and director of the Pepperdine University Russian Conversion Program. He is a retired chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Los Angeles and a former president of Beatrice Hunt-Wesson Foods.

Elizabeth Kemp, known to family and friends as Betty, grew up in Los Angeles and moved to Laguna Beach in 1972.

She and her husband campaigned for Jack Kemp’s bid for the Republican nomination for president in 1988, traveling to Iowa and New Hampshire to make speeches and appear at political events on his behalf.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by four children, Anne Hummel of Northridge, Paula Donahue of Irvine, Nancy Kemp of Newport Beach and Thomas Kemp Jr. of Tustin; her mother, Thelma Fern Benson of Huntington Beach; a brother, Donald Benson of Sierra Madre, and five grandchildren.

A reception to celebrate her life will be held for friends and family on Sunday at the family home. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to Human Options, P.O. Box 9445, South Laguna Beach, Calif. 92677.