Benson Pruefer Guenther

DECATUR _ Benson Pruefer Guenther, 70, of Avery Street in Decatur, departed from this life Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at home surrounded by his adoring family after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
He was born Aug. 29, 1937, in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of the late Arthur and Gladys (Benson) Guenther.
Mr. Guenther was a graduate of Hope High School in Providence, R.I. He attended Brown University and also studied drawing and painting at Rhode Island School of Design. He was a private student of Wilfred I. Duphiney (Rhode Island’s State portrait painter) for a number of years in the 1960s. Throughout his lifetime, he had continued a private study of painting, drawing, sculpting and photography. Mr. Guenther was also a passionate writer of poetry and short stories.
Being from a family of famous musicians, he studied piano as a young boy with his father, Arthur Guenther, who was a jazz pianist for the Blue Moon Orchestra. Mr. Guenther was also the great-nephew of Gus Pruefer (designer and manufacturer of the Pruefer Clarinet). Ben Guenther’s life’s work was capped by a lifelong love of music in which he studied classical music and played piano till the end of his life. His gift and talent as a musician knew no bounds as his ability to play any instrument he touched (including clarinet, guitar, banjo, harmonica and accordion) was witnessed by many.
He was a member of the Rhode Island Air National Guard as a radar operator and served in the United States Air Force as an artillery man until 1964.
He was employed during high school at Narragansett Park Race Track as a money messenger/clerk and retired from the track after achieving the title of head cashier in the 1970s. Before leaving the race track, he also started his own business known as Sculpture Cast Inc., a Bronze Mold Making and Casting Company which still exists.
Mr. Guenther lived in various coastal towns of Rhode Island throughout his younger years. He spent seven years in Seekonk, Mass., before moving his family to Decatur, were he lived out the rest of his life.
Having been utterly captivated by the natural world around him, Ben Guenther was known to have had a very profound and spiritual relationship with many of God’s creatures.
He was an avid caver throughout his life and a member of the National Speleological Society. In the 1980s, he began an intense study of geology and paleontology which drew him to the Howes Cave Quarry. He initiated a geological exploration of the immediate area and encouraged educators to envision the quarry and mine environs as a natural history laboratory. His ideas took hold and with great enthusiasm he received endorsements from the New York State Museum, colleges and universities, high schools, elementary schools, and numerous other educational groups. Through his steadfast determination, his experience and practical application of work at the quarry he was invited to join Cobleskill Stone Products of Cobleskill, to take part in one of the most ambitious restoration projects attempted in recent times in the area.
Through Ben Guenther’s tenacious efforts and talent, The Cave House Museum of Mining and Geology was forethought and brought to reality. Through his commitment to this endeavor, he was invited to serve as a charter member of the Cave House Board of Directors and served as Education Director of the Cave House Museum and of Howe Caverns. He also served as the design engineer for the expansion plan to re-open portions of the Howes Cave system not seen in over 100 years.
In honor of Mr. Guenther’s passion and devotion regarding education, the Cave House Museum board of directors bestowed on Ben a resolution to create a library at the Cave House Museum in his name to be known as the Benson P. Guenther Library.
He is survived by his wife, Caroline (Bettencourt) Guenther, of 50 years, whom he married Sept. 13, 1957; his son, Benson Guenther, and wife, Sandra, of Oneonta; his daughter, Wendy Guenther, of Decatur, his daughter Christina (Guenther) Tavanian, and husband, John, of Providence, Rhode Island; and three grandchildren, Jessica Guenther of Oneonta, Aisha Guenther and Quentin Guenther of Decatur; his sister, Ardys (Guenther) Filippone, and husband, Joseph, of Block Island, Rhode Island and Cranston, Rhode Island; his niece, Selina Filippone ,of Cranston, Rhode Island; his nephew, Joseph Filippone, and wife, Susan, and two children Nathanial and Julianna Filippone, of Block Island, Rhode Island.
Calling hours will be held at Guffin Funeral Home, 108 Chapel St., Cobleskill from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 21, 2008, and also from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 22, 2008, in which will be followed by a service.
A cremation will take place at a later date followed by a private interment in Columbarium service in the spring in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Cave House Museum of Mining & Geology, PO Box 700, Howes Cave, NY. 12092.