Paul Edgar Bensen
Paul Edgar Bensen
Dear husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Paul Edgar Bensen, a 42-year resident and farmer of Hollow Rock, Tennessee, died at home on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. He was 88.
Born in Teaneck, New Jersey on Feb. 3,1932 he was the second son of Mary Kubica and Edgar Bensen.
“Paul had farming in his blood,” his family wrote in a tribute, “and in 1945 his parents purchased a large farm on West Mountain in Rensselaerville. With the early passing of his father Edgar, Paul and his brother took on the responsibilities of the farm. In 1951, he graduated from Berne-Knox, just a few months after losing his father.
“He met his bride of 66 years, Helen Legg of Saugerties, New York, in 1952 at the race track in South Westerlo. They were wed in 1954.
“Paul and his brother Rudy turned the overworked land into a productive farm, having a dairy for many years and raising beef, vegetables, hay, and corn. The Bensens also raised four children on the farm. After 1964, Paul, Helen and their children together worked the family farm when his brother and family moved. It was truly a family farm in every sense of the word.
“Both hard workers, Helen and Paul had a love for the land, growing most of their own food and preserving for winter. In the late 1970s, the couple purchased a large farm in Tennessee. Wanting to farm in a warmer climate, the family moved all their equipment to the South, built a house, and continued to farm in the sunshine.
“Paul and Helen never retired and continued to farm on their Tennessee land until health conditions grew worse. Helen continues to reside on the farm that they both worked so hard to create together.”
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Paul Edgar Bensen is survived by his wife of 66 years, Helen; and by his four children, Gordon and his wife, Tracy, of Rensselaerville; Bruce of Hollow Rock, Tennessee, Kate of Portland, Oregon, and Janet and her husband, Dave, of Murray, Kentucky. He also leaves behind seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
His granddaughter Justine died before him.
He will be laid to rest at a graveside service in the Rensselaerville cemetery on Oct. 10 at 2 p.m.
Memorial messages may be left at www.altamontenterprise.com/milestones.
Paul Bensen was a true hero of our time. He was non-judgmental--accepting my husband and me as adventurous humans homesteading on 15 acres of his land that we purchased. He was generous--giving us the old granary for the task of deconstructing it; and it became our home where we spent evenings under the light of the Coleman lantern talking to Paul, the most curious, respectful and warmhearted man I have had the good fortune to know.
Mary Lou Emerson