Zola Mae Benson

Zola Mae Benson, 93, of Marshalltown died early Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at Villa Del Sol Nursing Home. A celebration of Zolas life will be 2:00p.m. Sunday, March 8th at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home with Pastor Bobby Shomo officiating. Visitation will be 5-7p.m. Saturday, at the funeral home. She will be laid to rest in Elmwood Cemetery at Lamoille. Memorials may be made to Marshall County Senior Center. For condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. The Mitchell Family Funeral Home is caring for Zola and her family, phone 641-844-1234. Born Zola Mae Smith on December 13th, 1915 in Brooklyn, Iowa, she was the daughter of Lloyd and Dorothy (Cory) Smith. Zola graduated from Lamoille High School in 1934. On May 29th, 1936 Zola was united in marriage to Clifford Benson at her parents home in State Center. The couple lived in Lamoille, then moved to San Francisco during WWII where Clifford worked as a welder in the shipyards, then returned to Iowa in 1943 where they lived in Green Mountain, Boone, Albia, and the last 13 years in Marshalltown. She has been a resident of Villa Del Sol since July of 2007. Zola worked at Schroeders in Boone, Coast to Coast in Albia, and as a homemaker. She very much enjoyed and cherished her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and her great-great-grandchildren. She liked to travel, go fishing, and play cards and bingo with her friends at the senior center. Zolas memory will be cherished by all who knew and loved her including her daughter Patricia (Ben) Hornberg Sr. of Albion; her grandchildren Deborah (John) Buffington of Colo, Ben (Connie) Hornberg Jr. of Clinton, Cheryl (Calvin) Pearson of Roland, and Gary Hornberg of Zearing; her great-grandchildren Wendy (Scott) Stensland, Clint Buffington, Nick Pearson, Tyler Pearson, Libby Longnecker, Derek Hornberg, and Dustin Hornberg; her great-great-grandchildren Holly Johnson, John Johnson, Caleb Stensland, Hannah Stensland, and Eli Pearson; her adopted families of Rachel (Bob) Lorbeske, Kim (Jim) Reistrup, Terri (Brad) Sinclair, Tammy Silvers and Darin Chidester, and Patrick (Lynn) Silvers; as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. In death, Zola has rejoined her parents, step-father, son (1937), daughter (1939), husband (1986), grandson Dennis Hornberg (1978), sister Ida Buschbom (1993), brother-in-law Arnold Buschbom (1995), brother Leonard Smith (1999), and sister-in-law Kathleen Smith (2009).