Phyllis Knutson Benson of Sandwich turns 100 on May 13

Phyllis Benson of Sandwich will celebrate her 100th birthday May 13. She was born on Friday, the 13th of May, 1921, in the Waterman, Illinois, Hospital, the daughter of Andrew Bernie Knutson and Pearl Emily Keene.

She married Russel J. Benson on May 17, 1942 and they were married for 57 years. She has three daughters; Connie (Chuck) Kross of Sandwich, Barb (Ken) Johnson of Yorkville, and Joni (Al) Koehler of Sandwich; eight grandchildren, Christy (Tim) Cordt, Corey (Greg) Zabukover, Greg (Candy) Johnson, T.J. (Andrea) Johnson, Matthew Johnson, Andrew (Erika) Koehler, Jake (Meagan) Koehler and Ben (Monique) Koehler; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Benson is a career educator who attended and taught in a one-room schoolhouse. She earned teaching degrees from Northern Illinois University and Aurora University and taught third grade in Sandwich at Haskin and Prairie View elementary schools.

She is a lifelong learner and genealogist who wrote her autobiography, “From Horse and Buggy to the Moon,” which chronicles her life as a child growing up on a farm in rural America, her life during the depression, WWII and her experiences witnessing the space age as the wife of a member of the Titan Missile Project.

She is a member of the Cleng Peerson Sons of Norway Lodge, General John Stark Daughters of the American Revolution Lodge and the Fox Valley Community Center where she is an avid Bridge player.

She will be celebrating her first century of life with her family and friends at the Fox Valley Community Center on May 16.