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Grace Benz (Jensen), 86, passed away in the company of her family early Friday, February 26, at her winter home in Yuma, Arizona. Grace was well-known in the Estancia Valley for the Fabric Shop she created, her volunteer work at the Bethel Storehouse, and her involvement with several senior citizen centers in the valley. Grace was born to Nels and Sophia Jensen on the family farm in Oliver County, North Dakota, in 1923. Her 65-year marriage to Lyle Benz led to a life lived around the world as a military wife raising a family of seven. She and Lyle returned to New Mexico in 1969, where she had a business in Albuquerque before moving to their farm south of Estancia. Sewing, handicrafts, and fabric were among her life-long passions, and she shared them with the community when she created the Fabric Shop with the goal of knowing "the first name of every woman on this side of the mountains." Success was guaranteed by her outgoing nature. Grace was enthusiastic about her community and was able to generate the same excitement in others. In the late 80s she came up with an idea for an Estancia mile-long sidewalk sale. She asked for the support of local merchants, the town, and community members to put on the first successful sidewalk sale, which is an annual event in Estancia to this day. Mrs. Benz was preceded in death by her parents; and daughter Linda Marie Benz. She is survived by her husband, Lyle Benz of Estancia, NM; sons, Curtis Benz and wife Linda of Estancia, NM, Neal Benz and wife Carol Ann of Boise, ID, and Jason Benz and wife Christina of Napa, CA; daughters, Teresa Lockwood and husband Steve of Albuquerque, NM, Rebecca Benz and husband John Hinte of Austin, TX, and Judith Tamm of Estancia, NM; brother, David Jensen; and thirteen grandchildren. Services will be conducted by the Reverend Charles Spooner; pallbearers are grandsons Nicholas Tamm, Alex Tamm, Justin Christensen, Paul Burns, Neil Roberts, Andrew Gray and Allen Benz. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Bethel Storehouse in Moriarty.
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