Bennedict "Ben" Smuda

Bennedict “Ben” Smuda, 83 year old resident of Little Falls, MN passed away Wednesday, February 11, 2015 at the St. Cloud Hospital. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Tuesday, February 17, 2015 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Little Falls, MN with Father Jeremy Ploof officiating. Burial will be at Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery north of Little Falls, MN. Military Rites will be conducted by the Minnesota State Honor Guard. Visitation will be held from 4-7 P.M. on Monday at the Shelley Funeral Chapel in Little Falls and from 9:30 -10:30 A.M. on Tuesday at the church. Parish Prayers will be at 6:30 PM on Monday at the funeral chapel. Ben was born September 2, 1931, in Darling, MN, to Thomas Smuda and Leatha (Starkey) Smuda. He was raised in Little Falls, MN, by his grandparents, Peter and Tillie (Lisinski) Smuda. When they passed away, Frank and Louise Smuda, Ben’s uncle and aunt, took over his care. He attended school at Lincoln Elementary, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Little Falls High School. He left high school after eleventh grade in order to join the Navy. During his four years of service, he was stationed on three different ships, the first being the USS Aldebaran, a refrigerated cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea. He was a veteran of the Korean War. Ben married Alice Diettrich on September 17, 1955, at St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Sparrow’s Point, near Baltimore, MD. He apprenticed at a Sinclair Station as a mechanic, then worked at the Watersedge Esso service station as a mechanic. He purchased the station from owner “Chubs” McKay in 1980, running it with his wife, Alice, until 1993. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1993, he retired in 1994 at the age of 62. Ben had long wanted to return to Little Falls and did so in 1997. He and Alice moved in to the Smuda home, former site of Smuda’s Zoo, joining Ben’s sister, Alvina. In 1999, he became the custodian and groundskeeper of The Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Memorial Museum, serving in this position until 2013. He was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Ben is survived by his wife, Alice Smuda, sister, Alvina Smuda, and several cousins. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, parents, uncle, Frank Smuda, aunts, Frances Smuda and Louise Smuda, and greataunt, Pauline Smuda.

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Bennedict "Ben" Smuda

September 2, 1931 - February 11, 2015