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Ben Fernandez Obituary
July 2, 1931 - December 19, 2018
Yountville, CA
Ben E. Fernandez, Hall of Fame trivia champ, sports fan extraordinaire, humorist, loving father and husband, and friend to all, passed away on December 19, 2018 surrounded by his family. Ben will be truly missed by all who were fortunate to have known him.
Ben was a Bay Area native and read the SF Chronicle front to back until the day he passed, beginning with the Sporting Green's box scores. He grew up in Emeryville, California, where his love of baseball began by listening to Oakland Oaks baseball games from his bedroom window. He graduated from UC Berkeley and began his career in insurance at USF&G in San Francisco where he met the love of his life, Donna Pruellage. They moved their young family to Pleasanton, CA in 1968. Ben loved Pleasanton. In addition to his career in insurance, he was President of the Chamber of Commerce and Lions Club and was very active in local politics and his lob ball team. Ben's second great love, after his family, was trivia. He competed on trivia teams for many years and was renowned for his uncanny command of the minutiae of movies, sports, TV, music and history. He remembered all the important details as well as most of the unimportant ones.
Ben is survived by Donna, his beloved wife of 61 years, and his daughters Torri Savoff, Susan Beans and Julie Cooper. Ben was endlessly proud of and delighted by his grandchildren Daniel & Matthew Savoff, Harrison & Hannah Cooper and Madeleine, Payton & Jason Beans.
Ben brought joy, laughter, support and most importantly unconditional love to his family. He was a great friend too and has many people that will miss him very much.
A celebration of Ben's life will be held on Friday, January 11, 2019 from 2:00-4:00 pm at The Pleasanton Hotel, 855 Main Street, Pleasanton, CA. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Veterans Home, 105 California Drive, Yountville, CA 94599.
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Memories and Condolences
for Ben Fernandez
Sponsored by East Bay Times.
4 Entries
John & Maddie Prokop
January 9, 2019
Ben,
We were so fortunate to play trivia game with you, on all sides of the questions . The sports category in the upcoming "King's X" tournament will be dedicated you and there will be question that, we know, could only be answered by you (and maybe one other person). Godspeed and when we meet again, we'll have some more questions ready for you, as we hope you will as well.
Grandpa
Julie Cooper
January 5, 2019
SUSAN BEANS
January 5, 2019
Susan Beans
January 5, 2019
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