John M. Benser, a retired Baltimore County teacher and artist, died Oct. 20 of cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 57.

A memorial service for Mr. Benser was held Oct. 23 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Towson.

Mr. Benser, a native of Waterloo, Iowa, graduated in 1956 from Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) in Cedar Falls. He enlisted in the Army, serving in counterintelligence at Fort Holabird in Baltimore.

Mr. Benser was a member of Black Hawk Lodge, a Masonic organization in Cedar Falls.

Survivors include his wife, the former Betty Bernard, of Lutherville; two daughters, Kara Deane Benser-Nanas of Marina Del Rey, Calif., and Kendyl Beth Benser of Towson; his mother, Evelyn Brooks Benser of Mason City, Iowa; and a brother, Jerry Benser, also of Mason City.