Benson_Raiford Guy_10 Mar 1916

Raifor Benson

MALAD – Raiford Guy Benson, 78 , longtime Malad businessman and civic leader, died Tuesday, Oct. 4, 1994, in Malad.

He was born March 10, 1916, in Malad, a son of Joseph Guy and Hazel B. Smith Benson. He grew up and was educated in Malad, and graduated from Malad High School. Following high school, he served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Raleigh for four years.

On July 15, 1939, he married Dana A. Stephenson, and the marriage was later solemnized in the Logan, Utah LDS Temple. She passed away Jan. 22, 1993.

He graduated from the Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Chicago, and apprenticed for his father at the Benson Funeral Home in Malad.

He worked at the Felt Mortuary in Brigham City, Utah, and later owned and operated the Bingham Canyon Mortuary, then returned to Malad, where he took over the Benson Funeral Home from his father. He operated the business until his retirement in 1978.

He was a member of the LDS Church, and had served in many capacities, including member of the Sunday school presidency, as ward clerk, member of the Third Ward bishopric, and as a home teacher.

Active in community service, he had served as Oneida County coroner for many years, belonged to the Jaycees, was a longtime member and also past president of the Lions Club, member of the Malad Community Chorus, member of the Utah Funeral Directors Association as well as member and past president of the Idaho Funeral Directors Association.

He is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Terral (Dorothy) Jensen of Weiser, Nancy Rae Benson of Malad, and Judy B. Hobson of Brigham City, Utah; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild; one brother, Ross Benson, of Ogden, Utah; and one sister, Mrs. Jack (Janice) Servoss of Logan, Utah. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Dana, a sister, Blanche Camp, and a daughter, Irene B. Wagstaff.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, Oct. 8, at noon in the Malad LDS Stake Chapel, Bishop Brad Thorpe officiating. Friends may call at the Benson-Horsley Funeral Home, 132 W. 300 N., Malad, on Friday, Oct. 7, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturday at the funeral home from 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.