Robert James Benser, of Gaylord, Mich., Mackinac Island, Mich., and Naples, Fla. passed away peacefully on June 15, 2024 at his home in Naples. He left this earth after achieving 95 years of kindness, generosity, success, and happiness.
Bob was born in Gaylord to John and Vida Benser on May 1, 1929. He graduated from Gaylord High School and attended Davenport Business School before enlisting in the army. He was a veteran of the Korean War. Bob grew up in Gaylord, hunting, fishing, and playing sports. While he called many places home, he always returned to Gaylord and lived most of his life there. He was an avid supporter of Gaylord Boosters and could always be found on a bench with a bag of popcorn, enjoying Gaylord boys and girls athletics, long after his kids were gone.
He held many jobs over his lifetime, including maintenance at Hidden Valley in Gaylord, linen sales across northern Michigan and selling cars at Burkholder Chevrolet in Grand Rapids, where he met Gigi Findlay, the woman he would eventually marry, build a family with, and remain close to until his passing.
Bob first ventured to Mackinac Island in 1955. He borrowed money from a Gaylord friend and recruited his best buddy, Frank Nephew, to help build Mr. B’s Tastee Freeze. For several years, Bob would sell cars in the winter and ice cream in the summer at the Tastee Freeze, while living in the back of the 400-square-foot building. In 1966, Bob and Frank put their heads — and what little money they had — together to purchase the Chatterbox, which would later become the Pickle Barrel, Everybody’s Little Mexico and presently the Lilac Tree Hotel. This first deal together set in motion a lifelong partnership that all began with a handshake. Bob was like a son to his business neighbors, Jerome and Grace Murdick. He learned to make fudge and would eventually buy the Original Murdick’s Fudge in 1969, further cementing his future on Mackinac Island. In perhaps his most significant purchase, Bob, Frank Nephew, Tom Pfeiffelmann and Sam McIntyre acquired the Chippewa Hotel and Pink Pony Bar in 1984.
While Bob was an accomplished businessman, he was a quiet and thoughtful leader of a generation of local families who trusted each other and worked to be the best stewards of Mackinac's magic and history. They did business on the bustling sidewalks with a handshake and their word, and with hopes of making Mackinac Island a better place. In 1974, Bob, along with Bob Carr, Tom Pfeiffelmann, Frank Nephew and many others, helped facilitate the restoration of the deteriorating Round Island lighthouse — a beacon to all that travel to Mackinac Island today — letting locals and visitors alike know when they've arrived back to the Island.
Bob's greatest pride and joy were his family. It's impossible to count the number of meals enjoyed as a family at the table in the Bonnie Doon. He always sat at the head of the table, his back to the view, smiling and listening to his family or any friend who walked through the door. Bob truly lived life to the fullest. He loved fishing, boating the Great Lakes, hunting for morels while getting lost in the woods. His happy place was the Spike Horn Club, where he enjoyed hunting, making a big buck breakfast, and most of all, the camaraderie of his buddies. His love for golf took him all over the map, including Scotland and Ireland. He loved traveling northern Michigan with his golf buddies, playing in Pro Ams and many golf leagues. He liked to teach the game of golf as much as he liked to play it, not because he thought he was good, but because he said he listened to those who were.
He loved sitting at the bar and “shooting the bull” with both friends and soon-to-be friends. He’d often be found deep in conversation at Schlang’s, Sugar Bowl, Jessie’s Chuck Wagon and the Pink Pony. Bob loved to tease and thoroughly enjoyed a good practical joke. He was funny in a special way, able to bring a room to tears by saying the simplest thing. He was inquisitive, a true learner, and always trying to better himself — asking questions and really listening — including with his employees about how the company could be better. He was a man of few words, though when he spoke it was meaningful. His praise was invaluable, and his reprimands legendary. Bob only saw the best in people and believed in second, third and fourth chances; he never fired a single employee.
Bob is preceded in death by his parents, John and Vida Benser, sister Alice (Ward) Butterfield, brother Howard (Norma) Benser, nephews John Butterfield and John Benser.
Bob is survived by Gigi Benser, children: Leslie (Don) Luciani, Robert G. Benser (Autumn), Heidi Benser, Amy (Ryan) Irish, grandchildren: Michael Luciani, John Luciani, Tyler Benser, Joe Luciani, Gracie Irish, Ellie Irish and Ava Irish, nieces: Lois Matousek, Ann Butterfield and nephew Tim (Christie) Talbott.
Funeral services will be held at 11am, Friday, June 28 at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, Mackinac Island, Mich. A celebration of life will be held at the Chippewa Hotel Pink Pony Patio immediately following the service.
In Lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to University of Michigan Pediatric Cancer Research Gracie’s Fund, https://www.mottchildren.org/giving/gracies-fund, Youth Fund care of the Mackinac Island Community Foundation, https://micf.org/.donate/, and to the Robert Benser Memorial Fund of the Otsego Community Foundation online, https://give.otsegofoundation.org/Benser, or by mail to Otsego Community Foundation, PO Box 344, Gaylord, MI 49734 (please include Robert Benser Memorial Fund in the check memo). Funds will be used to support causes that were dear to Robert.
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