Patricia Aileen (Jaacks) BENSON

JAACKS, BENSON, STEVENSON, DODDS, BENSON-GRANT, GRANT, STABILE, HAAF, HESSE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 3/3/2013 at 13:34:20

August 1, 1930 ---- February 27, 2013

SIOUX CITY -- Patricia Aileen (Jaacks) Benson, 82, of Kansas City, Mo., formerly of Sioux City and Alexander, Iowa, passed from this life on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2013, at the Garden Valley Care Center in Kansas City. Services will be 1:30 p.m. Monday at Alexander United Methodist Church in Alexander. Burial will be in Amsterdam Cemetery at Kanawha, Iowa. Visitation will begin 11:30 a.m. Monday, preceding the services, at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Andrews Funeral Homes of Belmond, Iowa.

Patricia was born in Sioux City on Aug. 1, 1930, the eldest of the three children of Alfred and Bertha (Stevenson) Jaacks. As a child, her family lived in Kingsley and Hinton, Iowa, before moving to Alexander, where she graduated from high school in 1948. She then moved to Clarion and began working at the local movie theatre. While working there, she met Milford "Benny" Benson, who quickly became the love of her life. They were united in marriage on Dec. 19, 1948, at the United Methodist Church in Alexander, the first couple to wed in that then-new building. Their union was subsequently blessed with 10 children, Melinda, Joel, Dale, Jacqueline, Michael, Larry, Julie, Lee, James and Traci.

She and Milford met countless friends while living in various Iowa communities including Kanawha, Alexander, Goldfield, Jewell, Hampton, Kingsley, Le Mars, Merrill, South Sioux City and Sioux City, before she finally moved to the Woodbine and then the Garden Valley care facilities in Kansas City. Patricia spent a number of years working first as a waitress and then in retail clothing sales at JC Penney and Spurgeons in Le Mars and at Morey's and Raymond's, Kahn's, and finally Jean's in downtown Sioux City.

Patricia loved and cared for her family first and foremost. Her many pastimes and hobbies included sewing and embroidery; bingo and card games and her ever-present crossword puzzles. She was an enthusiastic baker whose children especially miss her banana bread and applesauce raisin bars. She and Milford enjoyed dancing and socializing, especially through their membership in the Abu Bekr Shrine camper unit.

Her life and legacy will be remembered in the hearts and minds of her surviving children and their spouses, including daughters, Melinda (John) Dodds of Sioux City, Julie Benson-Grant and Dan Grant of North Kansas, Mo., and Traci Stabile of Gladstone, Mo.; sons, Joel (Susan) Benson of Urbandale, Iowa, Michael (Terry) Benson of Murphy, N.C., Larry Benson of Springfield, Mo., Lee Benson of Sioux City, and James Benson of North Sioux City, S.D.; her sister and brother-in-law, Geraldine and Phillip "Sonny" Haaf of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; 33 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren; two great-great-granddaughters; and innumerable nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Milford in February, 2009; her parents, Alfred and Bertha Jaacks; son, Dale Hilding Benson; daughter, Jacqueline Susanne Benson; brother, Marvin Jaacks; daughter-in-law, Tracy Morris Benson; granddaughter, Amanda Benson; grandson, John Dodds Jr.; and great-granddaughter, Jennifer Hesse.

The family suggests that those wishing to make memorial contributions might consider the Alzheimer's Association or Animal Rescue League of Iowa.

Sioux City Journal - Sioux City, Iowa
March 3, 2013