The service will begin at 11 a.m. in the chapel of Covenant Village of Cromwell, 52 Missionary Road, in Cromwell, Connecticut, with chaplain Glen A. Halvorsen officiating. A luncheon reception will follow in the Hilltop Lounge of Pilgrim Manor Care Center.
Benson was born August 26, 1921, in Peoria, Illinois, the son of S. Alfred and S. Theodora (Lagergren) Benson. He was baptized, confirmed and in 1943 was married to Gladys C. Freeze in First Covenant Church of Peoria where he served in many leadership positions.
Following nine years of employment as a Peoria company, he served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945 and participated in the European campaigns, where he was captured and held as a prisoner of war in German camps until his release.
Benson moved his family to Chicago in 1948 where over the years he continued his education, graduating from North Park College, Northwestern University, North Park Theological Seminary, and Boston University School of Theology. He was ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1957.
Gladys and the youngest of the couple’s three sons were killed in an automobile accident in 1962. He married Lorraine R. Frykberg in 1964 and they had one son. In 1978 he married Marjorie W. (Walker) Alcorn.
Benson’s pastoral service included five years in the Winnetka Covenant Church in Wilmette, Illinois, and 10 years in the Johnson Street Covenant Church in Lynn, Massachusetts. For more than 25 years Benson served in administrative and chaplaincy positions at Pilgrim Manor in Cromwell, Connecticut, and Covenant Village of Florida in Plantation, Florida. In 1992 the couple retired to Morningside at Covenant Village of Cromwell.
Benson served in leadership positions in the Covenant Ministerium, the Covenant Commission on Social Service Institutions, Covenant Senior Adult Ministries, and in conference ministerial and institutional ministries. His church membership has remained in the Evangelical Covenant Church in Tamarac, Florida.
He held nursing home administrator licenses in Connecticut and Florida, was a Certified Fellow in the American College of Nursing Home Administrators, served as a long-term care ombudsman in Florida, and was a member/officer of many professional groups, including the Connecticut White House Conference Committee and the Comprehensive Health Planning Agency.
Benson was predeceased by his wife, Gladys; son, Karl; wife, Marjorie; sister, Dorothy C. Staub; and brothers, Donald and Stanley. He is survived by three sons: Mickey Benson of Salem, Massachusetts; Gordon Benson of Boxborough, Massachusetts; and Eric Benson of Tewksbury, Massachusetts; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; four step-children: Christopher, Paul, Calvin and Leslie Alcorn; five step-grandchildren; and two step-great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the CVOC Benevolent Care Fund, 52 Missionary Road, Cromwell, CT, 06416. Expressions of sympathy for the family may be directed to the sons: Gordon L. Benson, 115 Guggins Lane, Boxborough, MA, 01719; Mickey L. Benson, 150 North Street, Salem, MA, 01970; or Eric Benson, 50 Green Meadow Drive, Tewksbury, MA, 01876.
