Past president Gunnar Benson
(1910-2007)

Last month we received word that former Illinois State Historical Society president Gunnar Benson (1969-1970), passed away on Monday, February 26. Mr. Benson was active in the Society from the mid 1950s to the late 1970s. He represented the Society , the state of Illinois, and Governor Richard Ogilvie when a collection of Olaf Krans' paintings of historic Bishop Hill opened in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1969, and he served as president of the Society when the Illinois State Historical Library moved into the newly restored Old State Capitol in 1970. He was a founder and the first president of the Sterling Rock Falls Historical Society (1959), and well known as a promoter of state and local history in northwestern Illinois. We reprint the following obituary with permission of the Sterling Gazette, which published the notice on March 1, 2007.

"Gunnar Arthur Benson, 96, formerly of Sterling, died Monday, February 26, 2007, at Evansville Manor, Evansville, Wis.

He was born May 21, 1910, in Varberg, Sweden, the son of John L. and Bertha (Gunnessen) Benson, emigrating to America with his parents in 1911. They settled in DeKalb, where he graduated from high school and Northern Illinois State Teachers College. He began teaching in Sterling at age 19. Here he met, and later married, Wilma Greiding on April 13, 1933. They were married for 71 years before she preceded him in death in 2004. He earned his Masters of Education from the University of Illinois. He was a teacher and administrator in Sterling public schools for 42 years, serving 30 years in administration as principal of Central School, Junior High School, and Lincoln School. He founded the Sterling Grade School Band, organized the Ma and Pa Band, taught stringed instruments, coached grade school sports, and, as a Boy Scout leader, founded Troup 102.

Gunnar was the co-founder and first president of the Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society, past president of the Illinois State Historical Society, officer of the Swedish Historical Society, chairman of the Whiteside County Commission for the Illinois Sesquicentennial, and chairman of the State Historical Society Committee for the American Revolution Bicentennial. While serving as president of the State Historical Society, Gunnar represented the state of Illinois at the opening of the Bishop Hill exhibit of the Olaf Krans paintings in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1969.

He was devoted to collecting and preserving historical data and events, especially of Abraham Lincoln and his early visits to Sterling. He was a YMCA Board director, past president of Whiteside County Education Association, former officer of the Illinois Elementary School Principals Association and former president of Rock River Wood Carvers. He was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, Sterling, serving as Sunday school teacher, choir director, council member, and church historian, authoring a centennial history of the church. He was awarded the Daughters of the American Revolution Americanism Medal and the PW Dillon Award.

After moving to Coventry Village, Gunnar was the facilitator of a program initiated by Sauk Valley College to bring current events and topics of interest weekly to the Coventry nursing home residents. He had a passion for teaching and took great pride in the accomplishments of many of his former students who kept in touch with him through the years. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who cherished time spent with his family.

He is survived by one daughter, Carole (Richard) Haakenson of Evansville, Wis.; one daughter-in-law, Carolyn Benson of Lincoln, Neb.; two sisters, Ruth Smith of DeKalb and Esther (Adolph) Klub of Hendersonville, N.C.; five grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews."

Burial took place in Oak Knoll Memorial Park, Sterling.

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