Len Bensen

Carbon County native, Saratoga businessman, expert fisherman and world renowned river guide and outfitter Len Bensen, 77, died March 29, 2015 at the Palisade Living Center in Palisade, Colo.

No services are planned at this time.

Len was born in Encampment, Wyo. Feb. 21, 1938 to Lorna (Hopkins) and Ernest Bensen and lived in Encampment until he was 2 years old when his family moved to Rawlins and then to Saratoga when he was in third grade.

He graduated from Platte Valley High School (now Saratoga H.S.) in 1956 and was president of FFA and active in basketball and football. He loved hunting, fishing, snow and water skiing and built himself a motorboat to use on Saratoga Lake as well as helping organize the first Wyoming State High School Rodeo in Saratoga.

After briefly attending the University of Wyoming he went to Alaska to work for a short time before returning to Wyoming.

Len served his country in the U.S. Army Airborne Infantry from 1960 through 1962 with the 101st Paratroopers division.

As a young man Len was a fishing guide on the Upper North Platte River and later bought the outfitting service from Ken and Verg Teter and renamed it Len's Sport Shop.

Len was married to Pat Wilson Crow on July 1, 1966. He was a loving, caring father to Pat's daughter, Kathy Crow, and then to his son, Brian, who was born in 1970.

In the 1970's he and Pat built a larger store near the river on Walnut Street where the couple operated a guide and outfitting business until the 1980s. Len purchased some rafts and used them for white water floats on the upper river and for scenic floats. He also built his own wooden square-ended boats to float the river. Old Baldy Club borrowed one of his boats and built some just like it to use in their guide service.

Len helped organize the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce and served as vice president, attended boat and travel shows promoting this area, and served as secretary of the Wyoming Guide and Outfitters Association. He built a road on BLM land, with their permission, into Douglas Creek in order to offer better access to the river.

After selling the sporting goods and outfitting business he purchased a portable sawmill and built many barns and cabins. He also worked in Hanna at the coal mines and was active in the logging business.

He owned a pair of Belgian draft horses, Whitey and Cindy, and used them on the Brush Creek Ranch taking guests out for rides and also participating in various parades. He also used them to skid logs that were used in constructing the Rawlins National Bank building in Saratoga.

Other interests included attempting to build a ski area near Encampment, serving as an active member of the ski patrol at Ryan Park Ski Area in the 1950s and ranch work where he learned to rope steers and help with branding and chores.

In 2006 Len suffered a serious injury after cutting beetle killed trees near Encampment. He was on a life flight to Casper from Rawlins where doctors said he would probably not live through the night. He had four spinal cord injuries, broken ribs and an occipital lobe stroke which affected his eyesight. Doctors said he would probably not walk again. After months of rehab and physical therapy he survived and walked again.

Len and his wife Pat moved to Grand Junction in 2012 where they lived with their son, Brian and his wife Scothia. Len and Pat later moved to an assisted living facility for several months until Len became too ill to stay there. He was in a nursing home for several weeks and then moved back to his son's house.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother Louis, brother-in-law Tom Hanson and son-in-law Brian Aikin.

Survivors include his wife Pat, of Grand Junction, a daughter Kathy Aikin and grandchildren Anna, Mitch and Emily Aikin, of Reno, Nev., his son Brian and wife Scothia of Grand Junction; two sisters, Ruthie and Bob Blake and nephews Chad and Curt and their families, of Centennial, Wyo., and Erma Hanson and nephews Sterling and Randy Arnold  and Tom Hanson and niece Becky Hanson, all of Saratoga.

Also surviving are his in-laws, Jody and Phil Saba and family, of Arvada, Colo. and Rick and Janie Weiss and their son Danny, of Phoenix, Ariz. and their daughter and her family, Lisa Weiss, of Denver, Colo.

Persons wishing to remember the family are asked to plant a tree in Len's memory, do a kind deed for someone who needs help, say a prayer while fishing, or donate to a charity of their choice.

Condolences may be sent to either Pat or Brian Bensen, 2391 H. Road, Grand Junction, CO 81505 and Kathy Aikin and family at 280 Boxer Dr., Reno, NV 89512.

 

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