Benson, Vivian 1908-2006

BENSON, STANSBERRY, MILLER, JOHNSON, LOWRY, PAULSON, COOPER, FUDGE

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 9/2/2014 at 08:11:59

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register
June 2006

VIVIAN L. BENSON

Vivian Lowry Benson, 98, of Grinnell died Wednesday, June 7, at St. Francis Manor.

A funeral service was held Saturday, June 10, at first Friends Church in Grinnell with the Rev. Todd Follette officiating. Organist was Kathleen McCune. Vocalist was Brockie Follette. Pallbearers were Ronald, Dennis and David Lowry, Craig and Mark Paulson and Blake and Brent Cooper. Burial was in West Liberty Cemetery, rural Montezuma. Memorials may be made to First Friends Church.

The daughter of William and Martha Stansberry Miller, she was born May 11, 1908, near Searsboro. Her father died when she was three. Her mother was married to William (Bill) Johnson when she was six. She was raised by her mother and stepfather in Searsboro and was a graduate of Searsboro High School. She attended the Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, later named the University of Northern Iowa, in the summer of 1927.

She was married on April 4, 1928, in Newton to Howard F. Lowry. They farmed near Searsboro, then moved to a farm near Gilman in 1943. They returned to the Searsboro area in 1945 where they farmed the Lowry home farm. Her husband died in 1955 and she moved to Grinnell where she was employed at the Grinnell Glove Factory, Young's Paint Store and later Carousel Fabrics.

She was married on April 7, 1969, to Orville O. Benson in Searsboro and the couple resided briefly in Newton while building a new home in Grinnell. She had been a resident of St. Francis Manor since 2001.

She was a member of First Friends Church, USFW Missionary Society and a Bible study group. She was devoted to her church, her children and grandchildren, and enjoyed sewing, crocheting, ceramics and painting, as well as gardening.

She is survived by two daughters Shirley Paulson and Loretta Cooper, both of Grinnell, and one son Richard Lowry of Montezuma; ten grandchildren; 27 great grandchildren and 12 great great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; her stepfather; both husbands; one son Loring Cedric Lowry at the age of one; two brothers, W. Paul Miller and Raymond Miller and one sister, Irene Fudge.