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Tobias (Toby) Behnen, Father of Henry ’99, Theresa ’01, and Robert ’04

Tobias (Toby) Paul Behnen, 74, of St. Cloud, Minn., passed away Wednesday, May 27, 2015, at Our Lady of Peace Hospice in St. Paul.

A memorial mass will be held at 10 AM, this Saturday, June 13, at St. John’s Abbey Church in Collegeville. A visitation will be held 1 hour prior to services, in the front entryway of the church. Interment, blessing and remembrance to follow mass at the St. John’s Abbey Hillside Columbarium.

Toby Behnen was born in Melrose to Henry Andrew (H.A.) Behnen and Leona (Kuhlmann) Behnen. He grew up in Greenwald, and attended Melrose High School, where he was the class salutatorian. He received a degree in English and physics from St. John’s University, Collegeville, then worked at Brown and Bigelow Printing in St. Paul for a short time before buying a job printing firm, Main Street Press, in Sauk Centre, MN.

In addition to printing, Toby published career guidance and special education books and materials under the imprints of Vocational Biographies, Career Finder, Project Special Education Project Earth and Project Explore, Dateline, and Images. These publications have been marketed and sold to schools, colleges, libraries, and prisons throughout the United States.

Toby is survived by his former wife, Patricia (Arnold) Engen, and their five children: Nancy (Teddy) Gaillas of New York, NY; Christine (Christopher Staser) Behnen of Salt Lake City, UT; Henry Behnen and Theresa Behnen of Brooklyn, NY, and Robert Behnen of St. Cloud, MN; grandchildren Alex and Keira Gaillas and Yair Behnen; brothers Steve Behnen of Coon Rapids and Philip (Roxanne) Behnen of Sauk Centre, and sister Annette (Harold) Jesh of Sauk Rapids, three nieces-Heidi (Max) Baumgartner, Alicia (Terry) Torok, Jami (Matt) Moore, and nephew Peter (Theresa) Jesh. He was preceded in death by his sister-in-law, Alice Behnen.

Toby was a supporter of the Bryant Library in Sauk Centre, and a frequent visitor of the Whitney Center in St. Cloud, where he had many friends.