Alan C. "Ace" Benson

On February 2, 2018, Alan C. “Ace” Benson, passed away after a short illness. His son Rod texted after his passing “Dad passed on Groundhogs Day, I don’t know why that feels right but he always had an unusual sense of humor.” Alan was born on September 13, 1936 to Margaret and Carroll Benson in West Allis, WI where he spent his childhood and his young adult life.Alan was preceded in death by his parents and younger brother Lee. He has three children, Julie (Greg) Wells of Atlanta, GA, Scott (Angie) Benson of Knoxville, and Rod (Juliana) of Chicago. They gave him nine grandchildren, Dustin, Brandon, Paige, Morgan, Andrew, Jacob, Connor, MaKayla, and Sasha. He enjoyed watching all of them grow up and participate in numerous activities. Alan was a long time newspaper photographer working for many papers across the Midwest, but eventually settled in Madison, WI where he retired. Somewhere along the way he developed an “unhealthy” relationship with trains. He loved all things trains and turned that into a lifetime full of train watching and model railroading. He found model railroading a worthwhile hobby and continued that until his death. Alan always said to his children in their younger ages, “Do not call them “toy” trains. If I wanted to play with toy trains, I’d buy Lionel.” Therefore his kids grew a respect for trains and learned hands off dad’s trains! Alan followed his son Scott to Galesburg, a town full of trains. It is a train junkies “Field of Dreams,” so it was destiny. Alan was a sports fanatic, but after a heart attack in 1999 he could only take so much stress. He loved all things Wisconsin and the Blackhawks and enjoyed watching games in small windows and reading about them the next day. Besides family, trains, and sports, Alan had three other loves in his life. First, was his fiancé Cindy Main, with whom he had spent the last 15 years of his life alongside. They enjoyed spending quality time together eating out, antique shopping, traveling, and going to minor league baseball games. The second love was a good cinnamon roll from Uncle Billy’s Bakery, and last but not least, he loved going to Innkeeper’s. He met a multitude of friends and individuals he would meet enjoying decaf and a delicious pastry. Alan had an amazing life full of family, friends, and many adventures and will be dearly missed. A celebration of life will be held at Innkeeper’s on Saturday, February 17, 2018 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Private family graveside services will be held at the Galva Cemetery, Galva, IL. Arrangements have been entrusted to Watson-Thomas Funeral Home and Crematory, Galesburg.   Memorials can be made to the Richard L. Owens Hospice Home, 8630 IL Rte 91, Peoria, IL 61615.