Lula Amelia Vories was born in LaVeta, Colorado on October 9, 1917, to Eugene S. and Ruby Capps Vories. The family moved to Walsenburg in 1920 and Lula graduated from Huerfano County High School in 1935. Following her graduation, the family moved to Grand Junction, Colorado where she graduated from Grand Junction Junior College in 1937. She spent several years as a country school teacher.
In 1939, she attended William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. In August, 1944, she married William (Bill) H. Schmidt of Redwing, Colorado. Bill preceded her in death in January, 1961. She moved to Canon City and worked for the State Division of Parole for the next eighteen years. Lula married Roy A. Benson in 1964, who preceded her in death in 2003.
Traveling was a focus of her retirement, usually with family to accompany her. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Canon City for well over fifty years and she loved working in her church. She did hours of volunteer work at a care center and with the Fremont Concert and Fine Arts Center.
She is survived by three grandchildren, Mickey Schmidt, of LaVeta, Colorado, Emit Schmidt, of Morse, Texas, and Helen Whitener, of Pueblo. She also has three great-granddaughters, three great-grandsons, and three great-great-grandchildren. Also surviving are two nieces, two nephews, and several great nephews and nieces.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in her memory to First Baptist Church of Canon City or the Southern Chapter of The Territorial Daughters of Colorado. Arrangements are under the care of Wilson Funeral Home.
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