Benjamin "Ben" Dalton

Dalton, Benjamin "Ben," age 71, departed from his loving wife, sons and many friends on Saturday April 30, 2005. Ben was born on August 15, 1933 to Madge and Ben Dalton in El Dorado, Kansas, where he was raised and spent his life until college. While in El Dorado he was a renowned high school athlete, and recently was inducted into the local Baseball Hall of Fame. After high school he attended the University of Kansas where he met his wife-to-be Jane, was a starting pitcher for the Jayhawk baseball team, and graduated with a degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1956. He received numerous scholarships for his academic excellence and was inducted into Tau Beta Pi. After a brief stint in the Army, he went to work as a Reservoir Engineer with Exxon, where he worked on projects all over the world. After 30 years with Exxon he co-founded an energy company in which he passionately worked for the rest of his life. His many other passions were his family and friends, good company and conversation, and traveling and seeing the world. He was an avid golfer and Master Gardener, enjoyed reading all types of books, watching all kinds of sports and loved great food and good wine. He was the most kind hearted and generous person to all of those around him, and was the most loving and caring husband and father that anyone could ever hope for. To many he was known as "Gentle Ben." He will be dearly missed. Ben was preceded in death by his parents and his brother-in-laws Larry Peter and John Armstrong. He is survived by his wife of 49 years Jane, of Conroe, Texas; his son Ben, of Houston, Texas; his son Scott, of Bogota, Colombia; his sister Margaret, of Ellinwood, Kansas; his brother-in law Jerry Armstrong and wife Bonnie of Denver, Colorado; John's wife Glenda of Edmond, Oklahoma; numerous nieces and nephews and hundreds of wonderful friends. A small family graveside service will be held in The Woodlands, Texas on Saturday, May 7th. Following the service, the Dalton family will have an Open House for family and friends to celebrate Ben's beautiful life. For more details contact a member of the family. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Ben's name for charity. If you wish to donate to the fund, checks should be made to the Benjamin Dalton Memorial Fund and sent to Amegy Bank, c/o Christy Coghlan, 1110 North Loop 336W, Suite 100, Conroe, Texas 77301.