Charlotte Troy, 84, started bed and breakfast for dogs
January 17, 2022
Charlotte Troy of Pawleys Island, owner of Benji’s Bed and Breakfast, died Monday. She was 84.
She was born Charlotte P. Gourlis in Woburn, Mass. She and her twin Charles were the youngest of seven children. She excelled in school and studied nursing at Beth Israel teaching hospital in Boston. She worked for several years as a registered nurse and married her first husband in 1962, having two sons together.
In 1980, she both adopted her first dog – a dachshund puppy named Dudley – and began taking college classes at night, eventually earning a master’s degree in business management in 1985. Five years later, she married her second husband, Edward Troy of Charleston, Mass. They both loved to travel, and he was an avid golfer, which is how they first discovered the Myrtle Beach area.
Mr. Troy succumbed to cancer in the early 2000s, and Charlotte moved full-time to Pawleys Island shortly thereafter. While enjoying walks on the beach with her two dogs, she met many vacationing families who missed their pets left back at home, which inspired her to start a “bed and breakfast” for dogs in the Pawleys Island area so that both people and pets could vacation together as a family.
In 2003, Benji’s Bed and Breakfast opened, and Mrs. Troy had shown up for work there nearly every day since.
She is survived by her two sons, their wives and five grandchildren.
The family expressed their appreciation to the congregation of All Saints Church, where she actively celebrated her faith, and to the current and former employees of Benji’s who were there with her every day and were essential in helping realize a dream that brought a deep sense of purpose to her life.
Memorial Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at All Saints Church.
There is a guest book at mayerfuneralhome.com.
