Fred Benz Succumbs In Florida

Fred E. Benz, a retired Ann Arbor businessman, died Sunday morning in Manatee Hospital, Bradenton, Fla. He became ill while spending the winter months in Bradenton. His home here was at 2100 Devonshire Rd.
As a young man, he first was employed by the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., the D. M. Osborn Harvester Co. of Jackson and by A. T. Lewis & Sons Co., Denver, Colo.
In 1910, Mr. Benz returned to Ann Arbor and joined the firm of Benz Brothers, a farm implement company which had been established in 1903 by his brothers, Victor and Albert E. Benz.
Mr. Benz and his brother, Albert, established the first Chevrolet automobile agency in Ann Arbor in 1915. They continued its operation until their retirement in 1924. Since that time, Mr. Benz and his wife have traveled very extensively, visiting every continent in the world or a total of 70 countries, many of them several times.
Mr. Benz, who was about 81, was a director of the Ann Arbor Bank, a member of First Presbyterian Church, the Ann Arbor Rotary Club, the Ann Arbor Club, and a life member of Barton Hills Country Club, a member of the Ann Arbor Golf and Outing Club, the University Club, the Hiawatha Sportsman Club, the Elks Club, the Bradenton Country Club and the Detroit Athletic Club. He was a former director and trustee of the YMCA here.
He was born in Webster township, a son of Gottlieb and Marie Koch Benz. He had lived in Ann Arbor most of his life.
In 1915, he married Margaret L. Bradley of Lansing. She survives. Also surviving are a sister, Mrs. Erwin E. (Flora) Schmid of Ann Arbor and several nephews and nieces.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Muehlig Chapel. The Rev. William P. Lemon will officiate. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel from noon Tuesday until the hour of services. Memorial contributions may be made to the Heart Fund.