Judith Eileen (Benson) LaFollette

Judith Eileen LaFollette, 75, of Lathrop, MO, passed away Thursday, November 10, 2011.

Judy was born on January 14, 1936 to Allen and Thelma Benson in Spring Lake, Minnesota. She was baptized at Spring Lake Lutheran Church on February 22, 1936. Her family moved from Minnesota to California in 1937. She was confirmed on June 5, 1949 at Zion Lutheran Church in Glendale, California. She graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale on June 17, 1953.

On September 4, 1953 she was united in marriage to Jesse R. LaFollette. In 1959 they moved from California to Gower, Missouri where they lived and worked on the farm belonging to Jesse’s father. In 1967 they moved to Lathrop, where they purchased a farm. It was on the farms that they raised their four children and built their life together. It was also on the farms that Judy spent time with her beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Judy was a lifelong civil servant, working at the Los Angeles County Counsels’ Office, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Kansas City. Judy was a member of A Meeting of Hope Lutheran Church in Liberty, and a member and volunteer of the Northwestern Missouri Genealogy Society in St. Joseph. She loved knitting, quilting, reading, genealogy, but especially loved her husband, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She had a profound faith in her Lord and was, in the end, eager to make her final journey.

She was preceded in death by her parents, and her sister, Alice Knosp.

Judith is survived by her husband, Jesse LaFollette, of the home; son, Stanley LaFollette and wife Sandra, Park Hills, MO; daughter, Gale Moore and husband Mike, Blue Springs, MO; son, Eric LaFollette and wife Brenda, St. Joseph, MO; daughter, Melissa LaGue and husband John, Lee’s Summit, MO; seven grandchildren, Christopher, Nicole, Laura, Rachel, Deama, Jennifer, and Jack; seven great-grandchildren, Micah, Dylan, Kyle, Jesse, Gavin, Tyler, and Maddox. She is also survived by her sister, Jean Alexander and husband Gerald, Winston, OR; brother, Bill Benson and wife Judy, Partridge, KS; brother-in-law, Don Knosp, Groveland, CA; sister-in-law, Dorothy LaFollette, St. Joseph, MO; many nieces and nephews, cousins, and friends.

Funeral Service: 2:30 p.m. Sunday, November 13^th at the Hixson-Klein Funeral Home, Gower.

Burial: Frazier Cemetery

Visitation: 6:00-8:00 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.