John Stanley Benson

As gentle as a trolling motor, John passed peacefully into the arms of the Lord with his loving and devoted wife Frannie at his bedside.  John was born in Chicago, IL on July 13, 1927, the son of John and Ruth Benson.  It was while attending Lane Tech High School in his Junior year that an offer to serve his country in WW2 by joining the Navy in exchange for receiving his diploma was made. John eagerly accepted, however knowing John and his love of our country, he probably would have willing joined without the reward of his diploma.  Although he was young and scared, he proudly served in the Pacific region until WW2 ended.  John returned to Chicago and married the love of his life Frances on November 29, 1947.  John had a gift and a love for drawing.  He spent his working years in the drafting and steel estimating field.  With Frances always by his side, together they raised a family until they reached the magic number of 6 children.  He and Frances also fostered several children over the years.  While they’re main residence was in Niles, IL, in the early 1970’s they built a second “summer” home at Lake Thunderbird in Putnam, IL which eventually became where they retired to in 1990.  No longer enjoying shoveling snow, John and Frances purchased a little home for themselves in Ocala, FL and became snowbirds.  John and Frannie’s hard work enabled them to take as many cruises as their hearts desired and they were able to travel to almost all the corners of the world.  Always a proud Swede, Sweden was definitely one of the destinations John enjoyed seeing most.  Beyond his never-ending love for his family, John had a love for fishing, old western movies and finding anything and everything he could to tinker with both inside and outside the house.  There wasn’t anything that he thought couldn’t be fixed or repurposed.  Just ask the old bathroom sink and medicine cabinet on the tree in the woods he used for cleaning fish.  John was an easy one to buy gifts for.  A couple dozen night crawlers was all it took to make him happy, although Frances was not as excited about them when they would get loose in her refrigerator.  John never met a stranger.  His loving and warm heart made anyone feel welcome as attested to by the sign on their front door which read “come on in!”, which he really meant.  His family will forever miss hearing his voice and his familiar sayings “well I’ll be a son of a gun” or “oh for cry eye”, but hearing him say I love you is what they will miss hearing the most. John was preceded in death by two beautiful daughters Janet and Karen, who were waiting to welcome him into the kingdom of heaven. He is survived by his loving wife of nearly 73 years, Frances, children Diane (John) Currier, Gayle (Ted) Riley, Johnny (Lori) Benson and Samantha (Shane) Mason, 8 grandchildren Jennifer, Jackie, Julie, Jeffrey, Axel, Sydney, Harley and Colton, and 11 great-grandchildren.  Fair winds and following seas SA John S. Benson. Rux Funeral Home of Kewanee is assisting the family with arrangements.

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