Obituary of William Martin Van Benthuysen

Van Benthuysen, William Martin (“Bill”) passed away at the age of 89 on August 17, 2021, at his home in Edina, MN, with family members present.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents Ruth and Howard. He was the last of his siblings Dave (Harriet), Paul (Lillian) and Barbara Wright (Ev). Bill is survived by his wife of 63 years, Nancy Louise (“Lu”), his children Douglas (Lynne), Janet, Edward (Margie) and Carol Monroe. He also leaves behind grandchildren and great grandchildren he and Lu have cherished over the years.

Bill graduated from Amityville High School in New York and Maryville College in Tennessee. He served two years with the Army in Germany. He was a salesman in a variety of positions over his career in advertising and printing. He was an active member of Good Samaritan United Methodist Church in Edina, Minnesota. Throughout his life Bill participated in his community including volunteering for many years in retirement with VEAP as a driver and food shelf worker.

Among the activities Bill enjoyed were golf, baseball, tennis, bridge, crosswords, and travel. But what he really loved was to be among people; he could engage anyone in conversation and excelled at recalling names. He dabbled with building model boats and planes, most of the latter crashing on their maiden flights.

Bill will be remembered for many things but especially for his sense of humor, bad dad jokes that often involved penguins, and mostly for his love of his family.

A memorial service will be held at Good Samaritan UMC in Edina on Wednesday, September 1st, at 2:00 PM with visitation at 1:00 and an outdoor reception after the service. Memorials preferred to Good Samaritan UMC or VEAP.