Phyllis Mae Benesch

Phyllis Benesch, 95, passed away on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 after a brief stay at the St. John’s Campus in Albert Lea, MN. A funeral service will be held at 2:00pm on Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home in Albert Lea. Visitation will be held for an hour prior to the service. Pastor Don Malinsky will be officiating.

Phyllis was born on May 10, 1930 to Elmer and Elda Smith in Faribault, MN. She graduated from Faribault High School. On September 17, 1949, she married Gordon Benesch in Faribault. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Albert Lea where they continued to live for the rest of their lives. The couple are the parents of five children – Kenneth, Keith, Kevin, Janeen, and Jolene.

Phyllis thoroughly enjoyed being a stay at home mom raising the five children. Her only employment came late in life after the children were grown when she was employed by SEMCAC serving meals in Alden, MN. Phyllis was an avid reader in later years, reading a new book every week. She loved having a vegetable garden and continued to grow tomatoes in pots on her patio when she was no longer able to have a garden. She enjoyed flowers and her patio was filled with flowers each Summer. Phyllis was an exceptional cook. Her family will always remember her making the Benesch specialty of Potato Dumplings and Buttermilk Soup. Her homemade pies were always present at holiday dinners.

Gordon and Phyllis loved to go camping. They even camped for many years in a school bus that Gordon converted into a camper. They were the original members of the Minnesota Bus Meet, where others in the state who had converted buses to campers came together to meet in a different town in Minnesota each Summer. As the years went by many of the campers, including Gordon and Phyllis, began to own motorhomes which they now brought to these bus meets. After Gordon’s retirement they spent many years wintering in their motorhome in Mission, Texas.

Phyllis is preceded in death by her husband Gordon Benesch; parents Elmer and Elda (Anderka) Smith; sons Keith Benesch and Kevin Benesch; and brother Wilbert Smith.

Phyllis is survived by her son Kenneth Benesch (Linda); daughters Janeen Benesch-Storlie and Jolene Berg (John); daughter-in-law Darlene Benesch; grandchildren Jennifer Norgaard (Eric), Tim Benesch (Laura), Jesse Benesch (Heather), Jeff Benesch (Rachel), Tina Becker (Brian), Tiffany Ganrude (Mark), and Nathan Berg; and many great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.