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Benschoter spent nearly 60 years in pest control. He began working in the field while in high school - soon after his parents started the company in 1934 - and continued until 1993, when he sold the business on West Sylvania Avenue.
He spent his later years helping his son, James V., Jr., in Benny's Pest Control Products Co. In a 1993 interview with The Blade, the elder Mr. Benschoter said he wanted to promote insects, dead or alive, as an educational experience for Toledoans. He had collected thousands of insects, such as butterflies, roaches, and grasshoppers.
"I have been collecting for a long time, even before World War II," Benschoter said. His collecting was temporarily interrupted by the war, during which he served with the Navy in the South Pacific. He traveled extensively to get insects for his collection.
Benschoter and fellow members of the Toledo Rotary Club took disabled Toledo schoolchildren to the zoo to show them the insects and talk about them, his wife of nearly 60 years, Helen, said.
A Scott High graduate, he had a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Toledo and did graduate work in entomology at Purdue University. In 2003, Purdue recognized Benschoter for having attended the Purdue Pest Management Conference for 60 years.
He was a member of First Church of Christ, Scientist, and American Legion Post 335. Surviving are his wife, Helen; daughter, Joy Ellen Williams; son, James V., Jr., and two grandchildren. There will be no visitation. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Feb. 25 in the J. Jeffrey Fretti Funeral Home. The family suggests tributes to the church, Boy Scouts of America, Toledo Rotary Foundation, or Hospice of Northwest Ohio.