Wanda R. Benziger, 87
February 19, 2011
Wanda R. Benziger, 87, formerly of Marshalltown, died unexpectedly Feb. 5, 2011, at her apartment in El Castillo, Santa Fe, N.M.
Wanda was born Wanda Ruth Reed in Marshalltown on Aug. 3, 1923, the only child of Vernon Reed and Nellie May Roberts. Wanda grew up in Melbourne and La Junta, Colo. She finished high school in Marshalltown. Wanda studied at Iowa State University for one year and on Dec. 20, 1943, married Ted Benziger, also of Marshalltown.
While Ted was away at war, Wanda lived with her grandmother and in-laws in Marshalltown.
After the war the Benzigers lived in Indianapolis, Ind., and then moved with their three children to Los Alamos, N.M., in 1952. They moved to Santa Fe to stay in 1967.
Wanda was an active mother and homemaker and a 40 year volunteer at St. Vincents Hospital.
She enjoyed and excelled at bridge and bowling.
Her family was most important to her and a source of much pride and pleasure.
Survivors include her loving family her children: Joanie Innerhofer, of Alamogordo, N.M., Michael Benziger, of Montrose, Colo., and John Benziger, of South China, Maine; her 10 grandchildren; and her four great-grandchildren.
Her husband Ted died in 1998.
She was buried alongside her husband Ted at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe, N.M., on Feb. 11, 2011. A memorial gathering is anticipated in the springtime.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the St. Vincents Hospital in Santa Fe, N.M., or a charity of choice.
