Benjamin H. Hamrick

Ben Hamrick was a down to earth man. In fact, he said the most
important things in life are: love, good health, food, good music;
of course money is important, but it don't come first. He also
said: "no room for hate."
We could all learn a lot from Ben Hamrick.
Ben was born on December 26, 1944 in Greenbrier county, WV
to John & Glenna. He was the 2nd of 13; Yes! 13 children. Can
you imagine?
He attended Lewis school, a one room schoolhouse, until 8th
grade. He loved telling stories of his teacher riding a horse to
school. He then attended and graduated from Smoot high
school. He was one of 22 students in the graduating class of
1962.
He loved to tell the story about how he wasn't "much good at
school," but that taking shorthand (does anyone under the age
of 50 know what that is?) raised his grade point average.
He played a little baseball and several years of basketball. He
always wanted people to know that he wasn't good at "making
baskets", but he was a great rebounder.
One of his favorite annual events was the Smoot School
reunion. He looked forward to it every year.
He and his older brother Dan, left WV for MD shortly after
graduating. They lived with their Aunt Ada while they looked for
work. A short time later, Ben began working on the Naval
Academy Dairy Farm. He lived in the mess hall there. He had a
good room, 3 meals a day, and made $62.50 a month! It may
not sound like a lot today, but it was enough to send a little
money home and "court" Helen.
He met Helen Laster at a co-worker's wedding. The co-worker
and friend just so happened to be Helen's brother, Tom.
They fell in love and were married on April 18, 1964. They were
reunited in Heaven for their 60th anniversary!
After marrying, they set up house on the farm; and soon started
their family. They had Mark, John, and Dianna. When Dianna
was only a few weeks old, the family left the farm so Ben could
pursue a job as an insurance salesman.
He quickly questioned his job choice when, while walking his
route, a policeman stopped to ask if he was "the insurance man
that just got robbed?!"
Luckily, while he was picking up his beef, that was due him at
the farm one day, the superintendent said there was a house
available if he would like to come back. He quickly moved the
family back to the Farm, where they settled in at 108 Dairy
Lane.
He said returning to the Farm was the best decision of his life,
second only to marrying Helen.
He retired when the Farm closed in 1998 after 36 years of
service. Shortly thereafter, he began working his "retirement
job" at American Wood Fibers. He earned several awards while
working there. Including, rookie of the year. He officially retired
from American Wood Fibers in 2013.
After he REALLY retired, his favorite hobby became
Facebookin' on his smartphone. He loved posting pictures of his
daily food concoctions, something cooking on the stove, Helen's
beautiful flowers in the yard and sometimes even included his
feet in the picture. He also enjoyed keeping up with family and
friends and "liking" their posts.
Here are some more of his favorites:
1. Listening to bluegrass and "old" country music
2. Watching Country Family Reunion
3. His toy pooper collection
4. Making biscuits and gravy
5. A little something sweet after every meal
6. A cold Coors Light - just like Tommy Lloyd
7. Riding his bike on the boardwalk
8. The first sip of a good cup of coffee
9. Talking to Alexa and getting the "Artist of the Day"
10. Family vacations, especially to Ocean City, MD
11. Porch settin' and toe tappin'
12. Box of Russell Stover under his footstool
13. Dramatically reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff to
the grands and greats
14. Thursday night dinners
15. His coconut birthday cake
16. Visits home to West Virginia
17. Gathering at the dinner tree
18. Looking at family pictures and sharing his memories
19. Cat heart envelopes
20. Pie Day and of course, making apple butter and apple
sauce too
21. Watching football
22. Watching the birds, squirrels, and other wildlife in his
yard
23. Hallmark movies that would "jerk a tear"
24. Putting people to work (bossin' like grandma)
25. Flat toothpicks & the holder from Dan
26. His vegetable garden, especially banana peppers
27. And of course, a good checkers match
But the most important thing to Grandad was his family, and to
him, everyone was family.
Ben was Grandad to all those who loved him. Young & old,
related or not. He was Grandad. There was nothing he loved
more than a big extended family gathering at his house. The
more the merrier for sure.
There are truly no words that could fully describe the man that
Ben Hamrick was - son, brother, husband, brother-in-law, father,
father-in-law, grandad, great-grandad, cousin, uncle, friend.
Hopefully this gives you a glimpse into his life and how much he
means to all of us.
Let's remember what Ben taught us about what is important in
life. Love, good health, food, good music; of course money is
important, but it don't come first. And there is "no room for
hate." We will treasure our beloved grandad forever.