Grace M. Bengtson

Grace Marie (Perkins) Bengtson, age 96, passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 8, 2017 at the Elim Care and Rehab Center in Princeton.
She was born on February 11, 1921 in rural Maine Township, MN, the daughter of Ambrose and Cora Perkins. She grew up in rural Fergus Falls with her six sisters and four brothers and attended country school through the eighth grade. On September 6, 1941, she married Arthur Bengtson of Braham at the Lutheran Parsonage in Cambridge. Over the next 16 years, Grace and Art became the proud parents of six children, Wallace Arthur, Marlene Marie, Curtis Raymond, Russell Larry, Clayton Charles, and Sheldon James. The Bengtson family was kept busy on the family farm with the many chores associated with dairy, beef, and crop farming as well as pigs, sheep, geese, ducks, and chickens.
Art passed away on May 23, 1982. Grace stayed on at the family farm. She kept busy with her church and bowling activities along with loving attention to her many flower gardens. In November 2011, she moved from the family farm to a customized apartment in Clayton and Wendy’s home. She enjoyed sitting on the porch in the sunshine surveying all the flowers and shrubs around their home. She rarely missed a Twins baseball game or a The Young and the Restless soap opera on the TV. In May 2014, she moved to an assisted living facility, Caley House, in Princeton. She was transferred to the nursing facility, Elim Care and Rehab Center in Princeton in May 2016 where she resided until her death.
Preceding her in death were her husband, Arthur Bengtson; her mother, Cora Perkins; sisters, Eleanor Thompson, Fern Mauer, and Daisy Halverson; and her brothers, Ralph, Robert, and Donald Perkins.
She is survived by her children, Wallace (June) of Braham, Marlene (Jim) Nelson of Eagan, Curt (Wendy) of Braham, Russ (Mary) of Walker, Clayton (Wendy) of Stanchfield, and Sheldon of San Francisco, CA; sisters, Doris Long of Richfield, Illene Bice of Fergus Falls, Irene (Jim) Groschupf of Whitefish, MT, and brother, Earl Perkins of Bloomington; as well as 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren and many cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and caregivers.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, April 12, 2017, 5-7 p.m. at Siloa Lutheran Church in rural Braham. A Celebration of Life service will be held at Siloa Lutheran Church on Thursday, April 13 at 11 a.m. with visitation one hour prior to the service all at the church. Inurnment will be in the Siloa Lutheran Cemetery. Arrangements are by the Rock-Ingebrand Funeral Home in Braham. Condolences may be posted at www.aifuneralhome.com.