Flora Amussen Benson, age 91, beloved wife of President Ezra Taft Benson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away peacefully at home, of natural causes, in the company of family members, Friday, August 14, 1992.
She was born July 1, 1901 in Logan, Utah, the daughter of Carl Christian and Barbara McIsaac Smith Amussen.She attended both Brigham Young College and Utah State Agricultural College at Logan, Utah. She was elected student body vice-president and excelled in sports and drama, winning the women's singles tennis championship and taking the lead in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night."
She served as a missionary to the Hawaiian Islands from 1924 to 1926, and upon her return she married Ezra Taft Benson September 10, 1926, in the Salt Lake Temple.
She served faithfully in numerous callings in various Church auxiliaries and rendered significant civic service. A buoyant spirit, she was an inspiration to many as she mingled among the humble and great of the earth and gladly lifted them. Her devotion to her family was legendary, and she became a worldwide example of the homemaker who joyfully served in her divine role as wife, helpmeet and mother.
She was named Homemaker of the Year by the Washington, D. C., chapter of the National Home Fashion Magazine. She received the Distinguished Achievement Award from Ricks College, was named Lambda Delta Sigma Woman of the Year, and recently received the Brigham Young University Examplary Womanhood Award.
She is survived by her husband, President Ezra Taft Benson; sons, Reed A. (May) of Provo; and Mark A. (Lela) of Salt Lake City; daughters, Barbara (Robert H.) Walker of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Beverly (James M.) Parker of Salt Lake City; Bonnie (Lowell) Madsen of Littleton, Colorado; and Flora Beth (David A.) Burton of Frankfurt, Germany; 34 grandchildren; and 51 great-grandchildren.
Following a private viewing, funeral services will be held Wednesday, August 19, at 12:00 noon, in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Interment will be in the family cemetery plot at Whitney, Idaho.
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