Benjamin Francis Cahill

Obituary of Benjamin Francis Cahill

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On August 6th, 2025, Benjamin Cahill passed away at Brookdale Assisted Living in Auburn, CA. He was 92 years old. He is survived by his wife, Virginia, children Terri Thrash, Kathleen Cahill (Anthony Chorosevic) William (Amy) Cahill and John (Karen) Cahill, grandsons Kevin (Hillary) Thrash, Daniel (Jessie) Thrash, and Scott (Hailey) Thrash, and great grandchildren Abigail, Dylan and Oliver. He was preceded in death by son in law Kenneth Thrash, parents William and Magdalen Cahill, brothers Anthony and Martin, and sisters Brendan Lozier, Enda Cahill, and Constance Weese. Benjamin was born in San Francisco, but at the age of three his family moved to the Santa Cruz mountains where he was to spend much of the rest of his life. He graduated from Holy Cross High School and received a B.A. in Business Administration from San Jose State University. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserves, achieving the rank of Specialist First Class. Upon his discharge from the Army he entered employment with Santa Cruz County, working as a land appraiser for the County Assessor's Office. While working for the county he met his wife, Virginia Reich Joyce, and they married in 1963. Ben deeply loved his family's twenty-acre property in the Santa Cruz mountains on Branciforte Drive. As his parents aged, he returned to his childhood home and raised his own family there, living there another fifty years until it became necessary to move to assisted living. He loved the nature on his farm, the orchard of fruit and walnut trees, the redwood groves. He was generous with gifts of apples and pears to his friends and family. He kept half a dozen hives of honeybees. He loved being a "gentleman farmer" after his retirement. Well into his eighties he could be found up a ladder picking fruit, and would wave to bicyclists or cars passing by. Ben was a longtime member of Holy Cross Catholic Church, where he served as a Eucharistic Minister. He volunteered for many years with the Branciforte Fire Station, first as a firefighter and then on the Board of Directors. An avid historian, he enjoyed the automobile industry and in his younger years restored antique cars, having a special affection for the Ford Motor Company and its products. There will be a private memorial service in Auburn.