Even as he faced his final moments, Benton Mackenzie's first thoughts were of his wife and son and their future.

The 49-year-old terminal cancer patient who fought Scott County authorities over his efforts to grow marijuana for his own medicinal use died early Monday at home.

"I've got a big empty pit right in the middle of my chest right now," Loretta Mackenzie told the Quad-City Times hours after her husband's death.

She wants to have his remains cremated and his ashes spread in Arizona, where they met, as well as Oregon, where they made multiple trips last year seeking legal cannabis oil.

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