Passed into God’s beautiful garden on May 8, 2013 after a courageous fight with congenital heart disease. He had just turned 73.
Ben was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa. He attended St. Ambrose College and began his career life as a high school math teacher. There he was awarded the distinguished National Science Foundation Grant to study at Penn State University where he earned a Masters Degree in Mathematics. Concluding his studies, Ben began working at Delco Electronics in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the Apollo Space Program. Along with many others, Ben transferred his family to Santa Barbara in 1972 to advance the Apollo initiative. He went on to become a Project Manager for the IUS program. He retired after a successful 30 years with Delco Electronics.
Ben met his beautiful wife, Kathy, in Davenport, Iowa and together they shared nearly 49 years of marriage. Together they raised three daughters, Krista (Ward Peterson,) Sheri, and Jeni (Chris Janci.) He was also blessed with grandsons Dylan & Trevor (Krista & Ward) and soon to arrive, grandson #3 (Jeni & Chris.) Siblings John, Alfred Jr., and Mary also survive him. He is preceded in death by his parents, Alfred Sr., Bernice and brother Robert.
Ben possessed a natural love of sports. He was a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan (“The Pack will be back”) and held a passion for the LA Dodgers. He was a season ticket holder for the UCLA Football Team (Sheri) and an avid follower of Duke Basketball (Jeni.) Ben’s love of sports and games continued to the end. Co-Founder of the ‘Beh Educational Seminar,’ a 47 year (and counting) family college bowl game tradition, he also enjoyed online and hard copy puzzles as well as weekly happy hours at Beachside Bar-Café (that’s a sport … right?)
The family wishes to extend their sincere gratitude to the Dettmann and Merkl families with whom many holidays and entertainment events were shared. Also, to the Loos’ and Montgomery’s for their always-festive aura.
Appreciation is also extended to the medical teams at UCLA, Cottage Hospital and Sansum Medical that granted Ben the opportunity to fight until the end. Donations in honor of Benjamin Beh may be made to either the UCLA Adult Congenital Heart Clinic (www.uclahealth.org/site.cfm?id=2000) or to the Make-A-Wish Foundation (www.wish.org).
Visitation: Tuesday 5/14/13, 4:00 pm-6:30 pm, Rosary 6:30 pm. Welch-Ryce-Haider, 15 East Sola St., Santa Barbara. Funeral Mass: Wednesday 5/15/13, 11:00 am, St. Marks Catholic Church, 6550 Picasso Rd., Goleta. Reception following service at the Beh residence.
