Mary M. Benge

Mary M. Benge, 83, of Bettendorf, Iowa, died Saturday, July 11, 2020, at Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House, Bettendorf.

The family will receive friends at a hospitality visitation with food and refreshments from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, July 16, in the Horizon Room at Trimble Funeral Home at Trimble Pointe, 701 12th Street, Moline. Masks and social distancing requirements will be enforced. Private burial is in Davenport Memorial Park. Memorials may be made to the family to be given to local literacy groups.

The former Mary Francis Murphy was born October 24, 1936, in Rock Island, Illinois, the daughter of Richard and Catherine (Blackburn) Murphy. She graduated from the Immaculate Conception Academy in Davenport. She married Tom Benge on March 30, 1957, in Davenport. She worked as a telephone switchboard operator for Bell Telephone and then in Iowa City while her husband attended college. Later in life she worked at the Rolling Pin in Duck Creek Plaza in Davenport.

She was a member of the University of Illinois Extension in Moline. She also helped many with literacy over the years. She enjoyed crafts, cooking, and playing cards (especially Bridge). Above all else, family was the most important thing to Mary. She loved spending time with her in-laws, nieces and nephews, and traveling with her husband.

Mary is survived by her beloved husband of over 63 years, Tom; a brother, Richard J. Murphy of Davenport; Tom’s siblings, Mary Meier of Bettendorf, Lois Mayers of Bettendorf, Marjorie Day of Princeton, Iowa, Robert (Jodi) Benge of Springfield, Missouri, and James (Michelle) Benge of Bettendorf; along with many loving nieces and nephews with whom she was very close. She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, James, and a sister at birth.

Condolences may be shared at TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.