Rosalie (Benchoff) Noel
Files
Title
Rosalie (Benchoff) Noel
Subject
Noel, Rosalie Keith Benchoff (1907-1973)
Military Education - Virginia - Woodstock
Massanutten Military Academy (Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Va.)
Students - Virginia - Woodstock
Description
Photograph of Rosalie Benchoff as a student at Massanutten Military Academy (MMA) in Woodstock.
Rosalie was born in Virginia, the daughter of Howard Johnston and Kathryn (Mahon) Benchoff, originally from Pennsylvania. In the 1920 census for Woodstock, she and her family lived on Muhlenberg Street.
Her father was the Superintendent of Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock for many years while she was growing up. She graduated from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.
When Rosalie married in 1930, a long article published in the Daily News Leader (Staunton) on July 27th called the event, “A wedding of great interest throughout the state…”.
The article went on to note that the groom, Dr. William Baker Noel (1904-1971), was from Farmville. The couple had met in Baltimore when Rosalie attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Dr. Noel was at Johns Hopkins Medical school (class of 1929).
The large wedding took place in the Massanutten Military Academy’s chapel and the reception was held on the lawn outside. The couple went to the Great Lakes and Canada for their honeymoon before settling in Detroit, Michigan, where Rosalie’s new husband started a job on the staff of the Henry Ford Hospital there.
Twenty years later, the 1950 census found the family living in Henderson, North Carolina, where Dr. Noel was still a practicing surgeon and Rosalie was caring for her two sons, Robert F. and Richard J. Noel. Another son arrived later.
Rosalie stayed in North Carolina for the rest of her life. Both she and her husband are buried together in Elmwood Cemetery in Henderson, N.C.
Rosalie was born in Virginia, the daughter of Howard Johnston and Kathryn (Mahon) Benchoff, originally from Pennsylvania. In the 1920 census for Woodstock, she and her family lived on Muhlenberg Street.
Her father was the Superintendent of Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock for many years while she was growing up. She graduated from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.
When Rosalie married in 1930, a long article published in the Daily News Leader (Staunton) on July 27th called the event, “A wedding of great interest throughout the state…”.
The article went on to note that the groom, Dr. William Baker Noel (1904-1971), was from Farmville. The couple had met in Baltimore when Rosalie attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Dr. Noel was at Johns Hopkins Medical school (class of 1929).
The large wedding took place in the Massanutten Military Academy’s chapel and the reception was held on the lawn outside. The couple went to the Great Lakes and Canada for their honeymoon before settling in Detroit, Michigan, where Rosalie’s new husband started a job on the staff of the Henry Ford Hospital there.
Twenty years later, the 1950 census found the family living in Henderson, North Carolina, where Dr. Noel was still a practicing surgeon and Rosalie was caring for her two sons, Robert F. and Richard J. Noel. Another son arrived later.
Rosalie stayed in North Carolina for the rest of her life. Both she and her husband are buried together in Elmwood Cemetery in Henderson, N.C.
Creator
Morrison Studio
Source
Morrison Studio Collection - Shenandoah County Historical Society
Publisher
Shenandoah County Library
Date
1930 or after, per the identifier.
After further research, we believe this was taken before 1920.
Contributor
Identified in 2002 by Betty (Benchoff) Page, who was the subject's cousin. She had pictures of the wedding reception at her home.
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT - NON-COMMERCIAL USE PERMITTED
Relation
Rosalie K. (Benchoff) Noel appears in Morrison Studio Collection Images 001856, 013736, 016794, 016974, 016975, 020159, 020276, 020287, 022480, 024401, and 024402.
Identifier
001856
Original Format
Glass Negative
Collection
Citation
Morrison Studio, “Rosalie (Benchoff) Noel,” Shenandoah County Library Archives, accessed January 31, 2026, https://archives.countylib.org/items/show/25381.
Comments