Benjamin Pester

Benjamin H. Pester VIRGINIA BEACH - Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Benjamin Hugh Pester, 83, passed away July 1, 2009, in a Virginia Beach hospital surrounded by his family. He was born in Casper, Wyo., Dec. 18, 1925 and was the son of the late Benjamin Harrison Pester and Ruth Augusta Clark. Cmdr. Pester graduated from the Naval Academy in 1948 and retired in 1969. He was a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach, the Kiwanis Beach Combers and the Daylight Singing Time Barbershop Group. He was a devoted husband, loving father and patriot and is survived by his wife, Arden Lee Pester, whom he married June 5, 1948; his children, Penny Lyon of Oak Harbor, Wash., Ben Pester of Granite Bay, Calif., Michael Pester of Sarasota, Fla., Heidi Figgs and her husband Harold "Spike" of Oak Harbor, Chris Phillips and her husband Tom of Eugene, Ore.; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters, Margaret Ruth Bassette of Manassas, Va., and Lois Mary White of Union City, Tenn. A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 8, at First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach by the Rev. Albert G. Butzer III. Online condolences may be made to the family at wwwhdoliver.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society or to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.