Bradley T. Benson

Bradley Thomas Benson, 59 years old, left this world on Monday, September 3, 2018, after a long battle with cancer.  He was surrounded by his wife and children who were able to provide him comfort in his last moments. He was welcomed to heaven with a brilliant show of thunder and lightning. Funeral services will be held on Friday, September 7, at 10:30 AM at Trinity Lutheran Church, 502 N 4th St., Bismarck.  Visitation for family, friends, and others whose lives Brad touched are invited to Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, September 6.  Burial will be held at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Mandan at 1:00 PM.  Brad was born in Bottineau, North Dakota on January 15, 1959, to Evelyn Fay (Green) and Asmundur Swain Benson and was the fifth of six children.  He graduated from Bottineau High School and went on to proudly serve in the armed forces as a missile assemblyman in the Navy from 1981 to 1987. He was stationed in Hawaii where he was able to experience the splendor of the ocean as an avid diver and fisherman stating, “You’ve never seen the stars until you’ve seen them from a boat in the middle of the sea at night.” It was also in Hawaii where he became a father to his beloved daughter, Ashly whom he was endlessly proud of.  After his time in Hawaii, he completed an engineering degree at the University of North Dakota and worked as a geological engineer for the State of North Dakota at the State Water Commission and then later for the federal government at the National Resources Conservation Service. In addition to his career, his service extended to the AA community where he helped unknown numbers of struggling folks come to find peace and sobriety. On September 3, 2010, Brad married his loving and devoted wife, Leann Tschider (Schuler), who courageously fought alongside him during his five-year struggle with cancer.  Though their time together was ended much too soon, they were able to experience the joys of travel, build a beautiful home, and most importantly, become grandparents to four wonderful grandchildren.  Becoming a grandparent or “papa” as he was called, was one of the greatest delights of his life, lifting his spirits and hopes during the last years of his life. Brad had an infamous sweet tooth that must have fed the sweetness of his soul.  He was able to see the beauty in everything, making daily comments on the beauty of the world, his home and of course, his wife. He was known to his family as a man of sharp wit who wasn’t afraid to laugh at his own jokes, an adventurous cook going as far as his infamous “tur-duck-in”, a man of style and flare that was uniquely his own, and a man who truly loved being part of a family as husband, father, papa, uncle, brother and son.  In the words of his grandchildren, “he was a superhero, he was beautiful, he was kind to everyone and everyone loves him.” Left to honor Brad and remember his love are his mother, Evelyn Fay Benson; wife, Leann Benson; daughter, Ashly (Lee Poe) Benson; stepchildren, Lindsy (Jeremy) Nordeen, Sarah Tschider, Matthew (Nicole) Tschider; grandchildren Scarlett and Knox Renner (Sarah), Foster Nordeen (Lindsy), Brynn Tschider (Matthew); sisters Sheila (Donovan) Bertsch, Melanie (Conrad) Olson; brothers Swain (Kathy), Allan and Chris Benson; nieces, Erica Wiisenan (Matt), Megan Mitzel (Anthony), Brenna Orstad (Carl), Brooke Benson, Laura Benson, Tess Doohen (Dan), Moriah Morrison (Danny) and Sky Benson; and nephews, Swain (Leah) Benson, Quentin (Alexis) Olson, Luke Benson and John Benson. Brad was preceded in death by his father, Asmundur Swain Benson and his beloved niece, Sarah Benson. Memorials are preferred in Brad’s honor to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society (https://pages.lightthenight.org/mn/TwinCiti18/TeamBradBenson) or the donor’s choice.