LaVern E. Benz, 84, of Reynolds, died Monday, October 3, 2016 at Aledo Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.  Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, Milan.  Visitation will be from 10 - 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home.  Burial will be private at a later date in Chapel Grove Cemetery, Taylor Ridge.  Memorials may be made in care of the Rock Island Evening Lions Club or your favorite charity.

LaVern was born in Udell, Iowa on November 13, 1931, a son of Charles William and Anna Matilda Erickson Benz.  He married Edna L. Wangelin on November 20, 1949 in Walnut City, Iowa.

LaVern worked as a dispatcher for Western Transportation Company, Rock Island, for 18 years and later worked about 9 years for Anr/Advanced Transportation Company, East Moline, before retiring in 1995.

He was a member of the Rock Island Evening Lions Club where he received the Melvin Jones award.

Survivors include his wife, Edna Benz, Reynolds; children, Peggy Benz, Milan, Ricky Benz, Kansas City, Mo., Rex Benz, Moline and Ryan (Christa) Benz, Reynolds; eight grandchildren; thirteen great grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; sister, Doris Culbertson, Pella, Iowa; and a sister-in-law, Verna Smith, De Witt, Iowa.

He was preceded in death by his parents, siblings, Mary Eckiss, LelaBelle Wilson and Carl, Lee, Glen, Gerald, Ray, Richard, James and Henry Benz and two great-grandchildren.