William Fred Benz born June 22, 1938 to Mildred and Will-helm Benz in the farmhouse in Dalton, SK. Raised in Dalton Sask., and attended school to grade 8 completion. He then worked for various farmers in the area and travelled to BC to find work as well. Returning to Dalton he met and married Marlene Norum on September 27, 1956. They farmed for 2 years but lost their crops to hail both years-and didn't have crop insurance in place at that time. To pay off the debts, Bill moved his young family to Flin Flon, Sask., -by that time their first of 4 children had been born, Daryl William Benz. Bill worked as a bus driver in Flin Flon. He had one interesting day when the brakes on the bus failed and he had to sideswipe some parked vehicles to stop the bus before it went through a busy intersection. The police credited him with saving all the passengers, no one was even bruised. Bill and Marlene moved to Kitimat, BC the following year. Bill was hired by Alcan and worked in the smelter there. By this time 2nd son, Steven Mark Benz, had joined the family and so had 3rd son, Eric Lee Benz, their fourth child a daughter, Denise Fay Benz, was also born during their time in Kitimat as well. They missed family and friends so they moved back to Naicam. Bill was hired by the Sask Wheat Pool as a grain buyer working first in Naicam then transferred to McKague and Invermay. Bill always wanted to have his own business and in spring of 1970 his dream came true. They started a fast food seasonal restaurant in Naicam named the M&W Drive In Restaurant serving fried chicken burgers and soft ice cream treats. Bill worked as a carpenter for various employers during the winter months when the restaurant was closed. Bill loved treating the bus kids to ice cream cones on the last day of school.It made for a busy morning but every bus child had their free treat. They ran the restaurant for 10 years before selling out and going back to work for other people. Bill started at Cropper Motors first as a vehicle detailer then moving on to parts person. Bill worked there for 3 years before a new business venture came along this time a partnership with sons 2 and 3, an autowreckers in Meadow Lake, SK. Built from raw land they raised a quonset and brought in utility services. They lived in a mobile home for a few years before moving a house onto the property. He decided to put his own stamp on it renovating and expanding it using his skills as a carpenter from start to finish on it including the finish carpentry, building exquisite oak cupboards in this house. Throughout the time in Naicam from 1970 to 1983, he built or renovated several houses starting out by converting an old gas station to a house for his young family. He moved in a house from Pleasantdale, SK. It had a hole in the front room floor where the Christmas tree was put into solving the too tall tree problem. Bill stripped that house down to studs and rebuilt it using his boys as construction help. He built cupboards out of ribbon mahogany a look so popular it graced the pages of the fall Sears catalogue that year. Later on he moved in another house onto a lot across the street from the restaurant. For this house Bill built kitchen cupboards out of ash wood. After closing the autowreckers in Meadow Lake, Bill worked for the Comissionaires of Saskatchewan as a security guard at the saw mill moving over to security guard at the pulp mill following the successful completion of a required college course. Bill loved learning, was a voracious reader and a dreamer, often coming up with unique solutions for practical problems such as building a self propelled swather from an old car and a pull behind swather designing and building a hydraulic log splitter. His dream project was a motor that would require very little energy to operate. He spent hours on design and theory using the internet to get answers to some of the engineering questions he had. Bill was a lifelong learner and encouraged his children to dream as well but to have a trade so they always had something to fall back on. From Meadow Lake they bought back the house they had moved in from Pleasantdale, renovating it for the second time. As their health declined they decided to move to an apartment in Melfort and sold the house in Naicam. From Melfort, they moved to again this time to Humboldt, SK. Bill renovated the basement of that house. After Humboldt, they moved back to Naicam to the seniors lodge. They stayed there until deteriorating health made them move to Middle Lake Pioneer Village a nursing home Bill had picked out years before. He was a sports enthusiast . He coached and played minor ball, coached hockey and loved fishing, taking the family on many fishing adventures. In his later years, Bill became a sports watcher, but eagerly waited for updates on the grandchildren's sport successes. Bill will be remembered in many ways and by many people whose lives were touched in some way by his presence here on earth. Bill will be lovingly remembered and sadly missed by his wife Marlene; children Daryl (Wendy), Steven (Yvonne), Eric (Hollie Warkentine), and Denise (Mark) Thompson; numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren; sister Carol (Tom) Handford; and numerous nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by parents Will-helm and Mildred Benz; grandsons Ivan Thompson and Nathan Thompson; two great grandchildren; sisters Marvel (Ralph) Borchardt and Faye (Walter) Turkenburg. Graveside Service 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 16, 2020 Naicam Cemetery Naicam, Saskatchewan Funeral Service will be live streamed on Narfason’s Funeral Chapel & Crematorium’s facebook page, if unable to join the family remotely please go to www.narfasons.com and sign Bill’s guestbook, leave a special memory or story. Please bring a lawn chair Social Distancing will be expected of all attendees William Benz- Facebook Live