Rodney Benson

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be spending this crisp, fall day writing Rodney’s obituary. If things had gone as planned, today we would be in England, enjoying the apartment we had rented in London, visiting museums, and probably having a pint or two. Those plans went awry. So, here I am, mourning Rodney’s death and agonizing about how to summarize his life in a few paragraphs. Where to begin? At the beginning, I guess. Rodney Bertil Benson was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on May 19, 1948. He was the fourth of four children born to Emily Blanche (nee Straumann) Benson and Bernard Ossian Benson. Bernard was a carpenter superintendent for a construction company that executed huge, industrial projects throughout the United States. Those projects began and ended which meant that the family moved every couple of years on average. Rodney’s first move was in 1949,when they moved to Pickstown, South Dakota. In 1952, they moved to Owensboro, Kentucky, followed by Port Lavaca, Texas, in 1955; Chautauqua, New York in 1957; Omaha, Nebraska in 1958; Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1960; and Morgantown, West Virginia in 1962. Rodney and his brother and sisters loved all these relocations. They credited their mother for presenting each move in a positive light. Life was a grand adventure for them and, as adults, they cherished the memories of living in Pickstown, a town created for construction families involved in the building of the Fort Randall Dam. They told stories of how, during a freak snow storm in Port Lavaca, they taught their classmates how to make snowballs; and how, during the move to Chautauqua, the moving van with all their possessions somehow ended up in Mexico. In 1964, Rodney’s father semi-retired and they made the final move to Cambridge, Wisconsin. Rodney graduated from Cambridge High School in 1966. He attended the University of Wisconsin (before the system merger made necessary the descriptive addition of “Madison” which galled him as well as many others) and graduated with a degree in history in 1971. He was proud to say he was a “five-year” man. Rodney would be the first to admit that he wasn’t always the best student, but he LOVED history, especially military history. His favorite professor was Edward M. Coffman and the two of them kept in touch up until Rodney’s death. Rodney was fond of saying that the job market for historians was poor in 1971, so he fell back on the family tradition of working in the construction industry. The first big project he worked on was in the small town of Covington, Virginia. By this time he had pretty much decided to share his life with me, a Wisconsin farm girl whom he met while we both attended UW. We were poor as church mice, living in a second story apartment in an old house. We didn’t have a phone and our car was an old Mercury Comet station wagon that we named Bill Haley (get it?). The gas gauge didn’t work so you had to keep track of the mileage to keep from running out of gas. Amazingly, it got us back and forth to work and around the east coast, and we even drove it to Wisconsin a couple of times. Covington wasn’t exactly a glamorous place to live but it was close to numerous Civil War battlefields and Washington, DC. We took advantage of that and traveled somewhere interesting almost every weekend. The other great thing about Covington was that it was the scene for connecting us with Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc. (FKCI), the company for which we would spend most of the rest of our lives working. FKCI was a young company then and Rodney and I were fortunate to get in on the ground floor, so to speak. We worked for them in Covington until 1976, when we transferred to a project in West Virginia. In 1977, we transferred to FKCI’s new home office in Evansville, Indiana. When we first moved to Evansville, Rodney decided he wanted to use his history degree and teach high school. He got his teaching certificate from the University of Evansville but by the time he finished student teaching he realized that most of the students didn’t share his love of history and he returned to FKCI. It was the nature of FKCI that it was more than just a place to work. The projects were interesting and challenging and Rodney’s proclivity for designing ways to keep track of things served the company well as it purchased supplies and equipment and moved semi-trucks full of those items to construction projects throughout almost all fifty states. We made great friends there and still keep in touch with most of them. And did we have fun! Some of those stories are probably better left untold. By the late 1990s, the original owners of FKCI had retired and things were starting to feel different there. In 2001, we took a leap of faith, resigned from FKCI, sold our house and moved to Madison. Rodney got a job at Memorial Union helping to keep track of food prepared in its huge commercial kitchen and then sent to catered events, various campus deli’s and even to the football team. (At least according to Rodney, the team got lobster if they won and something more mundane if they lost.) It was a great job for him. He loved working on campus and he enjoyed the people he worked with. He rode his bike the fourteen or so mile round-trip commute from our house to campus. His shift started early so his morning bicycle commute was in the dark. To amuse himself and because of his penchant for keeping track of things, he would count rabbits and other small animals that crossed his path along the way. And every night at dinner I would get the wild life report. I think the one-day record for rabbits was twenty-three. (Sorry, dear, if I got that wrong.) In 2009, Rodney’s oldest sister and his brother died. It was a reminder that there is more to life than work and he made plans to retire in mid 2010. In retirement, Rodney continued to enjoy traveling, reading a LOT, bicycle riding, and spectator sports. We were fortunate to have traveled extensively throughout our lives together. We agreed that we didn’t have a favorite trip – they were all wonderful. Here are a few that stand out: taking his parents back to Sweden in 1985 and meeting some of his Swedish relatives; a cruise on the Black Sea that including visits to the historical sites of Yalta and Balaklava in the Crimean Peninsula; traversing the Panama Canal; Machu Picchu; and, most recently, ten wonderful days in Rome. Rodney was also very proud of the fact that he had visited all fifty states. Rodney lived in Minneapolis when the Vikings came into the NFL. He signed on as a fan and was true to them throughout his life. Being a Vikings fan wasn’t so difficult when we lived out east or in southern Indiana. It became more of an issue when we moved back to Wisconsin. Rodney was not deterred. He proudly wore his Vikings cap to Woodman’s and on other outings. And whenever he saw someone sporting a Vikings cap or jersey he made a point of talking to them. In 1992, Rodney saw an ad in the back of Smithsonian magazine for a “volunteer vacation experience.” It was an organized program that allowed people to spend time helping out in the archives of the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, DC. He decided to sign up. It was everything he hoped for and more. He went every year and when the formal program was discontinued, the NASM archives staff agreed to let him come on his own. This past July was his 27th year. I think I am safe in saying that it was one of the things he most enjoyed and was most proud of. I never quite understood what he did there so I will paraphrase a few sentences from the email I got from one of the NASM archivists responding to the news of Rodney’s death: Unprocessed donated material, no matter how significant, is worth nothing if it is not cataloged so that it is available to researchers. Rodney helped make this material available to the world . Rodney was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Greta; and his brother, Bernie. In addition to me, Bonnie, his wife of almost forty-five years; he is survived by his sister, Kersten (Bruce) Pett; four sisters-in-law; numerous nieces and nephews; and friends throughout the country. There are so many people to thank. Rodney’s primary care physician Dr. Chang and his nurse Amy were so caring and helpful during the diagnostic phase of this journey. Rodney’s condition deteriorated so rapidly that there was only one visit from our Agrace Hospice team. The brevity of our relationship with Agrace notwithstanding, I felt a sense of relief that I would have professional help in caring for Rodney at home. Our long-time college friend Joan has been and continues to be invaluable help to me as I learn to walk the path of widowhood. The same goes for our friend Bruce. I cannot overstate how wonderful Kaitlynn, Samantha and Carly of Gunderson Funeral Home have been. I am so pleased with their care and concern for both Rodney and me. Finally I also want to thank Rodney’s sister Kersten and his niece Alison as well as my three sisters CoEllen, Melodie and Pam and their husbands for the comfort and support they continue to provide me. Being polite was very important to Rodney. He always held doors open for others, deferred to merging vehicles and performed numerous other small acts of kindness. And when he was the recipient of a kind act, he always expressed his appreciation with a word or gesture. That continued even when he was very, very sick. So, in lieu of flowers and in remembrance of Rodney, please be considerate, courteous and civil to those you meet. And if you happen to be the recipient of a kind act, remember to acknowledge it and say “thank you.” There will be a celebration of Rodney’s life for family and friends at the MEMORIAL UNION, 800 Langdon St., Madison from 11 a.m.until 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018. There will be a brief program at 11:30 followed by a reception. Donations in memory of Rodney can be made to the National Air and Space Museum, Archives Division: https://airandspace.si.edu/support I am so sad. There was so much more we wanted to do. Online Condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com Gunderson East Funeral & Cremation Care 5203 Monona Drive, 608-221-5420