Builders rally to help one of their own

Local builders are joining forces to construct a home for Whitefish Chief Building Official Virgil Bench while he undergoes treatment for small-cell lung cancer.

Bench, 62, started work as a building inspector for the city of Whitefish in 1990 and became chief building official in 1993. He has spent his entire life in the building industry, working as a custom homebuilder in Grand Junction, Colorado, before moving his family to Whitefish in 1985 and continuing in the building trades until joining the city staff.

With their retirement years not long off, Bench and his wife, Rosalie, recently sold their home in Whitefish with plans to build a new home near Smith Lake in the Kila area.

Bench and his son, Logan, were about a month into the building project when Bench learned of his cancer diagnosis in early May, according to Malmquist Construction Project Manager Tyler Frank, who is spearheading a “builder blast” weekend Sept. 18-20.

“Unfortunately, small-cell lung cancer is a tough cancer to fight, but Virgil is currently going through all necessary medical procedures to try and eradicate the cancerous tumor in his lungs,” Frank wrote in a letter circulated to Flathead Building Association members as a call for help.

“He is fighting this cancer hard to be present in the lives of his wife, three sons, two daughters, numerous grandchildren and many friends.”

Frank said he broached the idea of a building blitz during a Flathead Building Association board meeting last week and got an immediate groundswell of support from fellow builders.

Logan Bench said his father planned to work on the home over two or three years as he inches closer to retirement. Logan and his siblings came together this summer to build the garage on the Kila-area property. Virgil and Rosalie are living in the garage until the home is completed.

“Dad is one of the hardest workers I know,” Logan said. “He’s humbled by all of this help because he’s never had to ask for anything in his life. He’s always done everything by himself.

“But we have come to the point where there was nothing else we could do without help,” he said.

And help is on the way.

Builders intend to erect prefabricated walls, set trusses, sheet and shingle the roof, set exterior doors and put in windows during the three-day blitz.

“This may seem aggressive to accomplish all this in three days, but I have faith in the community and their willingness to assist the Bench family in such an overwhelming time,” Frank said.

In addition to the construction work, there will be opportunities for community members to help with cleaning, painting, material handling and supporting the builder volunteers by supplying food and beverages, he added.

Rosalie had to quit her office job with Montana Coffee Traders to help care for her husband as he undergoes radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Bench is on medical leave from his job with the city of Whitefish.

A Virgil Bench Building Fund has been set up through Glacier Bank to help the Bench family with medical bills.

Anyone wanting to help with the work weekend may contact Malmquist Construction at 862-7846.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.