Walter Carl Benck

Funeral services for Walter C. Benck, 89, of Fairmont, formerly of Granada, Minnesota will be 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 13, 2004, at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fairmont with the Rev. Roger C. Abernathy officiating. Burial will be at Fairview Memorial Park in Fairmont. Mr. Benck died Friday morning, January 9, 2004, at the Lutheran Retirement Home in Truman. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Monday, January 12, 2004, at Olson-Zaharia Funeral Home in Fairmont and one hour prior to the service at the church. Walter Carl Benck, the son of Henry Carl and Emilie Pauline (Schwieger) Benck, was born August 18, 1914 in Pleasant Prairie Township, Martin County, Minnesota. He attended country school District #23, St. Paul's Lutheran Parochial School and Granada High School. On October 4, 1936, Walter was united in marriage to Evelyn Smith in Fairmont. He worked as a farmer for seventeen years and then was employed as a mechanic in Granada, Minnesota for fifteen years. He worked at Stokely's in Fairmont for ten years until his retirement. Walter and Evelyn moved to Wisconsin in 1982. She died January 26th, 1993. Walter moved back to Fairmont in 1994. He entered the Lutheran Retirement Home in Truman on May 1, 2000. He was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fairmont. Walter enjoyed fishing and playing piano, accordion and trumpet. Survivors include two daughters, Sharon Rasmussen and her husband, Dale of Fairmont, Minnesota, Janice Tietje and her husband Eldon of Auburn, WA; two sons, Wayne Benck and his wife Verlene of Maiden Rock, WI, Larry Benck and his wife Charlotte of Baldwin, WI; seventeen grandchildren; thirty-seven great grandchildren; three great, great grandchildren; one sister, Ruth Philipp, Fairmont and one sister-in-law, Leona Benck, Lewisville, MN. Walter was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; one brother; two sisters and three grandchildren.