The Mass of Christian Burial for Herbert J. Benke, age 85, of Rapid City, formerly of Lemmon will be 11.00 am Friday, January 5, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lemmon with Fr Brian Fawcett officiating. Burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery with full military honors afforded by the Brattvet-Green American Legion Post #66 of Lemmon.

Mr. Benke died Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006 at the Rapid City Regional Hospital.



Tony Waller will sing "Go Rest High On That Mountain."


Serving as casketbearers are John Froelich, Ron Holdahl, Don Even, Del Newman, Jerry Heier, John Erhart, and Bernie Gossman.


In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established for St. Jude's Children's Home.


HERBERT JOHN BENKE was born February 26, 1921, to Albert and Johanna (Seiling) Benke at Dent MN. He attended grade school at Dent and high school at Perham MN. He was in the CCC Camp for 1 year, after which he worked for the North American Air Craft Co. in California. He then served 3 years in the US Air Force. After being honorably discharged from the service, he attended Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis for 2 years. He was employed by Montana Dakota Utilities for 38 years, 36 years being in Lemmon SD. Herb married Florentina Wenninger on July 25, 1950 at Mobridge SD. Three sons, Gary, Larry and Barry, were born to this union. Florentina died May 20, 1995. In 1996, he married Nadine Jennings and moved to and they lived in Rapid City, SD.


Herb was a member of the Fire Dept., American Legion, National Rifle Assoc., Knights of Columbus, St. Mary's Catholic Church and was a City Council member for 11 years. He was an avid sportsman and enjoyed hunting and fishing and was an avid Minnesota Twins baseball fan. He also did wood working and displayed his works at many craft shows. After retirement he enjoyed gardening and sharing the produce with neighbors and friends.


Surviving family members include his wife, Nadine; 2 sons and 1 daughter-in-law, Larry (Connie) Benke, Jamestown ND; Barry (Pam Hudson) Benke, Billings, MT; grandchildren, Heidi, Lori, Ryan and April; and stepchildren, Barbara Parkison and Jeff (Laurie) Jennings, Sacramento CA, Steve (Cathy) Jennings, Sturgis SD, and Jackie (Emery) Walters, Gillette WY; several step grandchildren and great-grandchildren; 1 sister, Betty Kelly, Somers Point, NJ: and several nieces and nephews.


Herb was preceded in death by his parents; his wife Florentina; son Gary, who died at the age of 8 years, 4 brothers, Elmer, Arthur, Robert and Rueben Benke; and 4 sisters, Elsie Harms, Hazel Wennerlund, Ardell Ruso and Esther Larsen.


Visitation will be Thursday evening until 9:00pm at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon and on Friday, one hour prior to services at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lemmon.