Trending
Nov. 11, 1931-April 1, 2021
Richard Benson, 89,
Minot, died Thursday,
April 1, 2021 in his home
surrounded by his loving
family.
Richard Marlan "Dick"
Benson was born on No-
vember 11th, 1931 in
Minot, ND to Lyle and
Margaret (Howe) Benson.
At the age of four, Richard
resided with his
grandparents Carl and
Rose Benson on their
farmstead located in the
South Prairie area near
Minot, ND. During his
early educational years,
Richard attended South
Prairie Country School
under the supervision of
his uncle and aunt, Ed
and Inga Mathis while
residing at their farm-
stead. Richard extended
his education by attend-
ing Minot Model School
while living with his
mother in Minot.
Prior to graduating,
Richard ventured west in
1946 to Spokane, Wash-
ington, where his father,
Lyle, lived. Eager to get to
work he was able to
secure a job with Wey-
erhaeuser Timber as a
logger. Richard returned
to Minot, ND, in 1949 to
work for Bee Line Service
and for Bober-Pietsch
Construction Co. building
roads. With an ambition
to join the Navy, Richard
completed his education
by receiving his G.E.D. in
1952.
On October 3rd, 1952,
Richard volunteered and
enlisted into the U.S.
Navy where he was
recommended to strike for
a mechanics rating be-
cause of his exceptionally
fine skill set. His basic
training began in San
Diego, California, and was
completed in Port
Hueneme, California,
where he was assigned to
the U.S. Naval Construc-
tion Battalion better
known as the Sea Bee's.
During basic training,
Richard would meet the
love of his life, Elaine Ol-
son, at a USO formal in
Minot, ND. The two fell in
love, each having a strong
love for dancing, and mar-
ried on September 14th,
1953. Elaine accompanied
Richard back to California
throughout basic training.
With noticeable dancing
talent, the duo stood out
to a particular band leader
who noted their smooth
dancing style. This indivi-dual enjoyed watching
Richard and Elaine waltz-
ing to his music so he
would direct his band to
play their favorite waltz.
This band leader is better
known today as Lawrence
Welk!
Following basic train-
ing, Richard was deployed
to Korea where he was
stationed on the 38th
Parallel, separating North
and South Korea. Serving
with the 101st US Naval
Construction Battalion
Maintenance Unit their
mission consisted of
building highline com-
munications, underwater
welding, and constructing
infrastructure including
roads, bridges, and run-
ways plus any demolition
deemed necessary. Be-
cause of their quick
response time and ability
to rapidly complete tasks
ahead of schedule, the Sea
Bee's as a unit were called
to the beach for "liberty"
and recognized by Gen-
eral Douglas MacArthur
and the South Korean
President.
On March 18th, 1955,
Richard was honorably
discharged from the U.S.
Navy. Although recom-
mended for re-enlistment
and for the Good Conduct
Medal, he returned to
Minot where he contin-
ued his employment with
Bee Line Service until
1961. Then, Richard be-
gan his career at Northern
States Power Telephone
(NSP) as an installer and
telephone linesman. Be-
ing immensely proud of
his employment at NSP
along with being
equipped with the experi-ence and knowledge of
his past, Richard was
prepared to handle the
largest of challenges. NSP
fell victim to the flood of
1969 in Minot where the
entire facility was
compromised. Crews at
NSP worked around the
clock to provide and
maintain telephone ser-
vice and communication
for the City of Minot.
These crews also assisted
in housing displaced fam-
ilies, sand bagging for
hours on end, and storing
personal belongings of
others. These long hours
working tirelessly would
ultimately result in
Richard catching a nap
atop a telephone pole due
to his lack of sleep.
Throughout his 30-year
career, Richard was able
to smoothly navigate
through many challenging
times but also enjoy pros-
perous times. Retiring in
1991 after 30 years of ser-
vice, his career with NSP
perfectly depicted his
character. He was a man
of integrity, loyalty, hard
work, reliability, grit, and
compassion. His many
selfless acts for his family
and community are end-
less. His love for his fami-
ly, along with his charm
and wit were among his
best attributes.
During retirement,
Richard and Elaine en-
joyed summers at Lake
Metigoshe, ND, entertain-ing family and friends.
Richard was able to fulfill
his passion for fishing as
well as hunting with his
sons, Tim and Craig, and
grandsons, Colby and Jer-
sey. Over the years he was
able to sneak away on
fishing trips to Canada
and various lakes in North
Dakota with numerous
friends. He also fished
Great Slave Lake in the
Northwest Territories
with Native American
Guide Services.
In his early childhood
years, Richard would
spend summers with his
father, Lyle, at Lake Meti-
goshe. During the 1930s,
Lake Metigoshe was pri-
marily dry and so Richard
would often tell stories
about walking over to
Dawson Island or harvest-ing hay from the dry lake
bottom. His knowledge of
the landscape prior to
Lake Metigoshe filling
with water allowed him to
navigate to key areas
where fish would migrate.
With this inside
knowledge, Richard al-
ways had fun with other
fisherman who would ask
him where he caught his
fish, and he would simply
reply: "In the lip!"
In addition to his fish-
ing and hunting hobbies,
Richard had a deep pas-
sion for cars and their
structural nature.
Mechanically his talents
were endless, but his
focus was on frame
straightening and
front-end alignment. He
was able to bring this pas-
sion to life through his
connections with Bee Line
Service and operated out
of his own garage. In the
late 1950s, Reid Gordan
asked Richard to be a part
of the pit crew team of the
#12 sprint car and
Richard happily accepted.
While offering his ser-
vices to Reid, Richard ul-
timately designed a
front-end alignment that
led the #12 car and team
to the Championship in
1959! Due to these
successes, Richard was in-
ducted into the Nodak
Speedway Hall of Fame in
2019 as a pioneer for en-
gineering the front-end
alignment that he
designed and built from
scratch.
Being active in all of his
hobbies, Richard still set
aside time to be an active member of First Luth-
eran Church, Moose
Lodge, American Legion
Post, IBEW Local 714, and
the Nodak Speedway Race
Club.
Richard is survived by
children: Calleyne Benson
(Gordon Ferguson) of No-
cona, TX, Tim (Julie) Ben-
son and Craig (Brenda)
Benson, all of Minot, and
Jodi (Rodney) Anderson
of Glenburn; grandchil-
dren: Tamara St. Clair,
Breanna (Brock) Keller,
Natosha (Chad) Gartner,
Charlsie (Brad) Burud,
Jersey (Kayla) Benson,
Codi (Chris) Ehlers, and
Colby (April) Anderson;
great-grandchildren:
Aiden and Annika St.
Clair, Carson, Amiya, and
Chase Gartner, Jagger
Swartwout, Kenadee and
Laikyn Burud, Jaren and
Baby girl Benson, Hayes and Hudson Ehlers, Jace,
Wyatt, and Baby boy
Anderson, and Baby boy
Keller.
Richard was preceded
in death by his parents;
wife, Elaine; brother, Car-
roll Benson; and mother-in-law, Dorothy Olson.
Celebration of the Life
of Richard Benson: 1:00
p.m. Tuesday, April 6,
2021 at First Lutheran
Church, Minot. To view a
livestream of the service
or share memories and
condolences please access
his obituary page at
www.thomasfamily
funeralhome.com.
Interment: Rosehill
Memorial Park, Minot.
Visitation: Monday, April 5, 2021 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Thomas Family Funeral Home, Minot.
Memorials are preferred
to Caring Edge Hospice,
Edgewood Vista, Veterans
of Foreign Wars (VFW) or
the donor's choice.