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Cathy Wurzer

Remembering former state Sen. Duane Benson

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Services will be held on Thursday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Lanesboro, Minn., for former state Senate minority leader Duane Benson, who died on Saturday at the age of 73.

Benson served as a Republican in the state Senate from 1980 until 1994, and most recently was the executive director of the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation. He also owned a cattle and horse ranch in Lanesboro and played professional football for nine years.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke to former state Sen. Dean Johnson, Benson's seatmate in the Senate, about Benson's life.