Keith Doornbos had waited long enough. He went to his wife, Linda, hoping she would agree.
“My dad convinced my mom it was time to get me up in the air,” said Laura Benton. “She gave in, so I went up for my first flight in the airplane at 10 days old.”
A lot of people claim a “lifelong” passion. Few come within nine days.
The former Laura Doornbos, an Illinois State volleyball star from 2002-05, is flying the plane now … the same 1948 Cessna 170 that took her airborne as an infant.
Up, up and away is all she’s known.
“I was one of the fortunate ones who grew up in an aviation family,” Benton said. “Both of my parents were pilots.
“My dad was in the Air Force. He was not an Air Force pilot, but he got his (private pilot) certificate in the Air Force. Then he met my mom and my mom was intrigued by it, always had been. So she ended up getting hers as well.”
Their daughter, a passenger growing up, took flying lessons in the summer while attending Illinois State. She made her first solo flight at age 19.
“Then life kind of got in the mix with everything post-college,” Benton said.
Seven years ago, the mother of four who is an enterprise technology analyst for State Farm Insurance and a part-time volleyball television analyst secured her pilot certificate.
A resident of Colfax, she has been flying the Cessna 170 frequently, including a trip to Colorado with her husband, Mike. They visited her former ISU volleyball coach, Sharon Dingman, there, then flew to Utah for a national park tour.
High winds meant spending two unexpected days in Kansas, but a side trip to a museum in Dodge City proved to be “the greatest experience,” she said.
“There is a freedom associated with it (flying),” Benton said. “My favorite part is sharing aviation with people and my kids and experiencing that. I love getting up in the air and it’s my decompress time.
“It’s all an adventure and that’s a vantage point I just love to share with people.”
Benton is president of Ladies Love Taildraggers, an organization that connects female pilots who fly conventional landing gear (the tail and back of the plane). The group also offers scholarships to women working toward their “tail wheel endorsement.”
Benton calls them “like-minded women with all types of backgrounds.” Some fly professionally for airlines, others fly cargo planes and many are like Benton. They simply enjoy flying light aircraft.
The four-seat Cessna 170 has been in the Doornbos family for 40 years. A smaller plane, a 1946 J3 Piper Cub, is a two-seat tandem.
“We’re all about the old planes,” Benton said.
She stresses they are in “great shape” and undergo annual inspections. Maintenance and upgrades are made as needed.
The Cessna 170 has a cruising speed of around 115 miles per hour and the J3 Cub about 75 mph. Benton has taken the Cessna 170 to Florida multiple times, flying in and out of Bloomington. Trips to visit family in Missouri take roughly two hours opposed to four and a half by car. Benton recently made a flight to Texas.
“It’s just the idea of picking a place, going, and having some freedom to go where you want to go,” she said.
Keith Doornbos mostly flies the J3 Piper Cub these days. His daughter is the primary pilot and caretaker of the Cessna 170.
She likes to take to the air with her children – 15-year-old Eva Ludwig, 13-year-old twin sons Carter and Landon Ludwig, and 9-year-old Anne Benton. Their blended family also includes Mike Benton’s children: Ashley, 27; Allison, 25; and Ryan, 22.
Laura Benton has been without her mother since 2013, when Linda Doornbos died at age 59. She worked at State Farm for 27 years before becoming a State Farm agent for 17 years in Decatur.
Her impact remains strong.
“She really had a huge influence on me as far as what it took to be focused,” Benton said. “She had a double bachelor (degree) and she did that while being a mom and working full-time. That was something she drove into my brother (Brian Foster) and I: ‘You’re always learning.’
“I have seen that really come into play even after college: ‘I’m just going to keep learning.’ My dad and I, a couple of years ago, went to Florida and learned how to fly a seaplane. It was additional learning, keeping up with the skills.”
Benton flashed plenty of skill on the volleyball court. The former Olympia High School star made the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team in 2002, was a second-team all-Valley selection in 2003, and was a first-team all-Valley choice in 2004 and 2005.
She was part of a lot of victories, but the biggest came off the court. A week after signing her National Letter of Intent with ISU as a 17-year-old, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
“I had two surgeries to remove it and then I had a radioactive iodine treatment, which essentially is you’re radioactive for 24 hours,” Benton said. “It kills all the cells that are associated with that cancer tumor. I went through that and then it became managing my levels.
“It wasn’t just a one-year battle. My entire career we were monitoring how I was doing. I’m in great health now. I had great doctors, a great support team around me.”
She credits her mother for impressing upon doctors that something was amiss. It took three years for the diagnosis to come.
Benton was on medication and worked with Dingman, her staff and then-strength coach Rohrk Cutchlow to find a plan that would give her maximum energy on game days. There were times during her senior year she could not practice during the week, saving energy for back-to-back weekend matches.
Following that season, she was presented the Missouri Valley Conference Most Courageous Award, which goes to an athlete, coach or administrator who demonstrates exceptional courage in life.
Benton later served as an assistant coach under Dingman and also has coached volleyball at the junior high, club and high school levels. She was coach for the JV team this fall at Ridgeview High School, where her husband is a longtime teacher and coach.
“I’ve really enjoyed the coaching piece, but to be honest, my sons are heavily involved in sports along with my oldest,” Benton said. “I’m to a point where I’m ready to just watch my kids and be that spectator who just loves watching the sports.”
They are at an age where athletic careers take flight.
Up, up and away.
