Chris & Paul,
Dick Benson was most certainly one of the good guys. I first met him at a dog trial and we found we had a lot in common with hunting, decoys, and art work. He was mainly a "flatwork" artist (and a good one).... Won the Ohio duck stamp and some other state stamp contests. He and I made quite a few visits to see Joe Wooster when Joe was at the VA home in Georgetown, Ohio. Dick and Joe used to run together at the California shows back in the days when Dick was living on the coast. It was Dick who painted the portrait of Joe that I have hanging in my studio.
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Dick got the idea for the painting when I sent him an old clipping from
Decoy Collector magazine that contained a picture of Joe working . Bobby Sutton had included the clipping in a letter to me about Joe. Dick presented the original of this painting (It was Dick who gave me my copy) to Joe for his Birthday.
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Goes to show what kind of guy Dick was - he knocked out that portrait specifically as a gift for Joe. Joe's daughter, Patti, has it now - At the gathering at her house after Joe's funeral, I had to tell her the story about Dick painting it for her Dad . She had no idea where it came from, just that it was hanging in his room when they collected his effects. Hearing those two trade stories during our visits to the VA was a treat.
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My boys and I also had the opportunity to hunt with Dick a few times, and at his age, his energy & enthusiasm was really something to witness (Although, I do remember one goose hunt in the snow when he "retired" to the truck to get warm after laying on the frozen ground for about eight hours [Dick always preferred throwing an old piece of burlap over himself to a cozy layout blind]). Every hunt was preceeded by a big breakfast that Dick would have waiting when we arrived at his house before heading out for the day.
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Typical of Dick was the kick he got out of watching the boys shoot - he'd
always pass up shots to give them the opportunity to kill birds. Here's a picture of the boys & Dick after a hunt where they knocked down a goose with a collar.
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I think he was more excited than they were that day, and I can remember how we watched from another part of the field as they called in a group and dropped two birds, including the one with the collar. Dick was grinning from ear to ear - he loved to see kids involved in hunting and the outdoors, and went out of his way to see that they had the chance to do so. It's good people like Dick that make being involved in waterfowling memorable.
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