Erby Benson Obituary

Erby Benson passed away on Friday, October 18, 2024, in Muskegon, Michigan. He was born in Dorena, Missouri on August 24, 1940, to Joseph and Golder Benson.
Erby spent his early years in Missouri living in a raised house on Old #7 Island along the Mississippi River. Life on the island held many dangers from snakes and big cats and the kids had a few run ins with them. It also entailed hard work on the farm and many days spent picking cotton.
The Benson family moved to Muskegon in 1952. Erby graduated from Muskegon High School and then owned and operated the Clark Gas Station on Ottawa Street in Muskegon. Later, he was a machinist for Dresser Crane. Erby married Sonja Herrgord, they bought a farm to raise cows, horses, and three kids. Widowed in 1971, Erby filled his days working, farming, hunting, fishing, camping, snowmobiling, and riding motorcycles and quads with his children.
Erby was a proud member of the Port City Four Wheelers, a 4-wheel drive club. He loved to tell stories of their search and rescue missions and driving essential workers through the blizzard of '78.
After Dresser closed, Erby worked as a marine mechanic at Point Marine in North Muskegon for the next few years. During this time, he wintered in Hudson, Florida where he kept a sailboat Wild Honey and eventually met Anita. After Point Marine he and Anita spent years running a successful antique business until their retirement.
In 1989, Erby was asked by Mrs. Skinner to take her daughter Anita fishing. Anita was visiting her mother from England on a month-long holiday. Erby and Anita went fishing in the Gulf of Mexico on Wild Honey and three weeks later he proposed. Theirs was the type of marriage we all dream of. They doted on each other; he brought her coffee in bed every morning for 34 years.
During his last few years of retirement, Erby found joy using his shopsmith to make models of old cars and trucks he remembered from the past. His cabin in Goulais River Canada was his favorite place to be. Erby's idyllic Canadian summers were spent fishing, riding his quad in the woods, and tinkering in his wood shop.
After weathering too many Florida hurricanes, Erby and Anita bought a home in Montague, Michigan in the spring of 2024. There he set up his wood shop and kept busy working on the house. Unfortunately, his days were cut short by a fast-moving, invasive cancer which he fought bravely.
Erby is survived by his wife of 34 years, Anita; 4 children, Joseph Scott (Pam) Benson, Sheila L. (James) Plude, Tina Benson, and Laura (Marc) Murdoch; 5 grandchildren, Jamie Smit, Kirt Plude, Sonja Mondragon, Dallas Johnson, and Ethan Quittelier; 3 great-grandchildren, Tayler Plude, Micah Plude and Naomi Plude; siblings, Wilma Faulkner, Paul J.R. Benson, Rodger Benson, Darlene Flier, Jimmy Benson, Gloria Kenny, Tina Flowers, and Jeffery Benson; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Golder Benson and by his first wife, Sonja Wilhelmina Benson (Herrgord).
A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held on Wednesday, October 30th from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Hagar's Hideaway, 3156 Lakeshore Drive, Muskegon, Michigan with food catered by Fatty Lumpkins. Guests are welcome to bring desserts (individual servings please) to share. Erby loved sweets!
Memorial contributions can be made to the American Cancer Society.
Shoreline Memorial Services -- Whitehall Chapel -- 231-893-5300
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