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Funeral services are scheduled for an Iowa State trooper who died of injuries suffered in a car accident.

According to information released by Martin-Grau Funeral Home, public services for the 37-year-old Benda will be held Wednesday at 11 AM at Waukon High School. A private burial will take place at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Waukon.

A public visitation will be held Tuesday from 4 PM to 8 PM at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon, according to the funeral home.

Benda, of rural Decorah, is survived by his wife, Holly, and their four young children.

Trooper Benda died Thursday at a LaCrosse, Wis., hospital. The Iowa State Patrol said he succumbed to injuries suffered in an Oct. 14 accident that occurred on Iowa Highway 51 north of Postville. At the time of the single-vehicle crash, Benda was en route to assist Clayton County sheriff’s deputies with a wanted suspect.



Benda joined the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation in 2005 and was assigned to the Special Enforcement Operations Bureau in Marquette. He transferred to the Iowa State Patrol in 2016, assigned initially to the District 8 office in Mason City. Most recently, Benda was working out of the District 10 office in Oelwein.

Benda is the second Iowa State trooper to die in the line of duty this year. In April, Sgt. Jim Smith was shot and killed during a confrontation with a suspect in Grundy Center. Smith, of Independence, also worked out of the District 10 office.

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