John Anthony Benson passed away at the age of 75 on May 13 at Montrose Memorial Hospital following a long illness.  “Tony,” as he was affectionately called, was born in Dallas, Texas. He was the second eldest of six children and lived most of his life in California. After retiring as a chef, he moved to Gunnison in 2012, where he was an active member of St. Peter’s Church and enjoyed going to the “Young at Heart” senior lunches to sit with Bernie, Anne, Bud, Mac and a few other regulars at their special table where the conversation was deep and the laughter frequent.  
 

Tony moved to Montrose in 2015 to be closer to his doctors. He made friends with many of his neighbors and was a parishioner at St. Mary’s Catholic Church; he joined the Knights of Columbus and was an active member until his health failed.
 

Tony loved his faith, art, history, music, singing, good dogs and collecting anything and everything that he found to be beautiful or useful. He will be missed by his family and friends.

A funeral Mass was held 1 p.m. Friday, May 18, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Montrose.