Benjamin B. Moon II

Benjamin Moon Obituary

A Memorial was held in Vancouver, WA for Ben Moon who passed away June 22, 2007 in Vancouver, WA. Ben was born September 4, 1943 in Emmett, Idaho. Interment was held privately in Alsea, about 45 miles from the Oregon coast. Benjamin's ashes were scattered in the Alsea River near his grandparents home.

He was a 1962 graduate of Mooseheart in North Aurora, IL. He was employed as a brakeman for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad for 35 years. Ben loved to spend time fishing, hunting, woodworking, and doing anything that took him into the "great outdoors."

Ben is survived by his sons, Ben (Susan) Moon of Montgomery, Brad Moon of Montgomery, Sean Moon of Vancouver, WA; his daughter, Michelle "Shelly" (Rich) Balles of Montgomery; his sisters, Maxine Ryan, Maureen Weisser, Kathy Houvener, Marsha Moon, Laura Moon; his brothers, Ed and David; five grandchildren, Benjamin and Austin Moon, Sarah, Behn, and Bethany Balles.

He is preceded in death by his father, Ben; his mother, Opal Moon; and his sister, Orlena.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Beacon News from Jul. 4 to Jul. 6, 2007.

Memories and Condolences
for Benjamin Moon

5 Entries

Nancy Bickley

July 14, 2007

Watch out for those pretty angels up there, Ben. You have really left a gap. Like sister Kathy, I too used to show off your senior picture. Your great looks were only superseded by that great, funny personality. Sooo many great memories when you used to visit us kids in Maltby. You, Eddie, Bruce & Gene riding the pigs in the back pasture, laughed soo hard, I almost fell out of the hay mow. You lived life to the fullest. Thanks for sharing a tiny bit with us. Cheers, Champ.

Laura Moon

July 9, 2007

I once wrote my mom and asked asked her what our dad was like, and she wrote back and said that he was the kind of person that would give you the shirt off of his back. Well, as said here, brother Ben was the same as our dad. I miss him and always will remember him as my big bear protector, my rough and tough cream puff. Hard and gruff on the outside and all mushy on the inside. Miss you bro, all my love, L!

Kathleen Moon-Houvener

July 7, 2007

My brother David just about said it all. Ben was the last of the gruff mountainmen. I worshiped him my whole life as my big brother protector. Early in my teens I quickly learned which girls wanted to be my friend for me or to get to one of the "coolest guys in school".You might not hear from him all year but when Thanksgiving was near he would call to find out what time dinner was going to be. He tried very hard to never miss a family event. And, the gruff old bear loved Robert Service poetry and classical music. He waged his biggest battle in the end not for himself but for his children in order to see them once again. I'm glad he died his way, in his home. He tried so hard to be just like our father, in many ways they were.So, now they are together and no doubt raising holy cain. I miss them all.

David Moon

July 5, 2007

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now......we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation........

I guess you’re wondering what that’s all about.

Well......one of my first memories of my brother Ben was when we lived at Mooseheart and he came into my second grade classroom and proceeded to recite the Gettysburg address, with full dramatics, to all of us; a talent he loved to express as often as possible.

Almost as exciting as riding the cows at Mooseheart, getting put on the farm (Mooseheart’s detention facility a mile off campus for ’bad boys’); was being the super stud Captain of the football team and marrying the two most beautiful women in Illinois.

The reason I mention this is that it is just one example of the numerous stories and memories all of us have of Ben. Remember his limericks? Wish I would have written them down.

One key phrase though, ‘all men are created equal’ is a belief that Ben not only internalized but put into practice. Ben treated all with respect and understanding, seeing what was in their hearts, dismissing dogmas; preached or dictated otherwise. This may be one of the greatest messages he conveyed.

Even though...............we all have stories of when we wanted to take some duct tape and put over his mouth.

Added to this are many more memories and stories of experiences with Ben from all of you and many more who have known him throughout his life.

Some of my memories.......

Traveling across the United States from Illinois to Washington in 1963 riding in his Pontiac Catalina convertible when mom moved back to Seattle.

Picking Ben and Brad up at Sea-Tac after they got dumped off on an island in Alaska, then Ben driving my brand new Grand Prix like a maniac from Mt. St. Helens, down the mountain making sure that a Trans-Am that was behind us, trying to pass us was not going to do so. Scared the hell out of me....maybe even Brad. But he did it, the Trans-Am finally gave up.

...............The time he got busted for salmon fishing in Elliott Bay after the Boldt decision (1974 Supreme Court decision) guaranteeing Northwest Native Americans to 50% of the salmon catch) because he thought he had a Native American in the boat with him to be legal while fishing on Elliott Bay in Puget Sound; but it turned out the guy was Mexican. In Ben’s words, “He told me he was an Indian”!.

Driving up to the destruction zone at Mt. St. Helens a month after the eruption; bypassing the state patrol checkpoints by driving logging roads until we got all the way up to ground zero of the destruction zone. We took pictures of us standing on top of houses totally buried in ash and mud from the river 200 ft. below us. One week later, St. Helens erupted again, we would have been buried.

All of us have stories. Probably the most would be mom. Mom always said that she didn’t have a favorite, but we all knew that Ben was her favorite. They were two kindred spirits. I remember Mom and Ben coming back from Alaska on the Alaska state ferry.

They only had enough money to pay for deck passage, which means you camp out/live/sleep on the upper boat deck from Alaska to Seattle. Mom was down to her last $20. There was a poker game going on. Ben went to Mom and told her to give him her $20. She protested that she wasn’t going to give him her last $20 to gamble; they were only about half way to Seattle. He persisted, she finally relented. He turned the $20 into more than $500 and they were able to get a cabin for the rest of the trip.

Now, Mom, Ben and Orlena are all together again. Mom and Ben are having a great time partying and Lena is having a great time telling him what an as...... he is, lovingly of course.......NOT!

That’s the way it was with Ben, loved and frustrating at the same time. Money flowed in and flowed out; out more often than people know. Yet......I’m still waiting for the the loans to be paid back. One comes to recognize that loaning of money and the joy of experiences are synonymous

But it brings up the basic truth about Ben in that he is one of the last of a dying breed.

Years ago I used to say that if there were a catastrophic event effecting our nation and we all had to live on our own, Ben would be the one to head for. We could all head for the mountains with Ben and survival would be assured.

I’ve never known anyone who lived life to the fullest. Yes, he was a bit unconventional. He followed his own stars. He knew how to party, get rowdy, wrestle bears and get kicked out of towns for life. He was ‘Big Bad Ben’ to the max.

But.......he had a heart of gold, would give the shirt off his back. There’s a country song I heard recently about having a friend that would be there for whatever......and what’s that joke about a friend is someone who will bail you out, a great friend is someone who will be there with you in jail and say ‘damn, that was a great time!’ The latter is Ben. A greater friend could not be had. Indeed, if all of the people Ben befriended over his life were here today, we would have had to rent out a stadium.

That huge heart of gold is the huge heart that sustained him during the past many years of living with congestive heart failure, etc. etc. etc.

A lesser man would have died years ago. His stamina and huge heart sustained him.

Eventually......well, he died while sleeping, in his own bed, in his own home and not in a hospital or nursing home, as he so desired.

The good news is that he didn’t crawl out into the mountains and sit under a tree like an old Indian of yore, as he threatened on many occasions.

Ben loved his children, unequivocally. They truly are/were his world, always deep within his heart.

Ben never stopped loving the mothers of his children.

Though Ben had his own ways of expressing his love and didn’t necessarily express his love according to the dictates of society and traditions; his love for all family was pure and above reproach. He gave of himself as he could, never expecting anything in return.

We all have experienced his rather gruff manner of expressing that; wanting to knock him in the head at times........but he would react to that with.....

Huh huh huh huh huh and Jesus Christ!