Visitation (9-11am Thurs) and funeral services (11am) are this morning in Lanesboro (Bethlehem Lutheran Church) for former state Senator and pro football player Duane Benson, who died last Saturday at the age of 73 following a five-year battle with cancer. Senator Julie Rosen from Vernon Center says Benson was a mentor for her and many others, both inside and outside the Capitol. “His uncanny ability to enter any situation, any meeting, anywhere and bring his humility, his compassion, his intelligence and, most of all, his humor was something that we all strive for,” Rosen says.
Benson played nine years in the N-F-L. He was a state senator from 1980 to 1994, later headed the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation, and was also a cattle rancher.