Benjamin P. Prieto

1931 - 2020

Benjamin P. Prieto

Benjamin P. Prieto Family Patriarch passed away on November 29, 2020 from Covid-19 at Desert Regional Medical Center. Although his family could not be at his bedside, they were praying and loving him from afar. His wife, however, was permitted to be with him, partitioned by a glass window, as she sang romantic songs to him.

Ben's parents, Tony and Ramona Fontes Prieto married in 1930 and lived on the Pomeroy Ranch, located what is now, Racquet Club Road and North Indian Canyon. Ben was born on the Ranch on March 31, 1931. In 1932 Tony and Ramona decided to move and rented a small plot of land from Miguel Saturnino and had a nice small home built. It was located on the 300 block of South Calle Encilia on the Indian Reservation, Section 14. Ben grew up in a loving and caring environment.

From September 1937 until 1941 he attended the Americanization Room, which was a separate building, located on the grounds of Francis Stevens Elementary School. It was a segregated classroom for children of the Indian Reservation. Thereafter, he was transferred to Francis Stevens Elementary School. Ben, his cousin Oscar and friends would ride their bikes all over the Village of Palm Springs. They witnessed the conversion of the El Mirador Hotel into Tourney General Hospital (a military hospital during World War II.) The boys would also ride their bikes where the military airport was being constructed. The military sentries were familiar with Ben and his friends and called them by their first names. They allowed them to ride their bikes on the airport runway. After elementary school, he attended Nellie N. Coffman Junior High and Palm Springs High School. There he played tenor saxophone and was a member of the marching band, played in the dance band and then at a local band in town. Ben loved music and always played along with the Lawrence Welk Orchestra those familiar tunes of that era.

After high school Ben played baseball on the Mexican Colony team which was part of a City of Palm Springs league. He was employed by the City of Palm Springs street department until he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was stationed for several years on an Army base in Germany. After being honorably discharged, he returned home and again was hired by the City of Palm Springs Engineering Department.

He married Alice Mediano of Palm Springs on September 4, 1954. They raised four children. He eventually retired from Neel's Nursery of Palm Springs. After being widowed for some years, he married Maria Munguia Prieto in May 1999.

He is preceded in death by his parents Tony and Ramona Prieto, his first wife Alice Mediano and brother Eugene R. Prieto. He is survived by his children Benjamin Junior, Yolanda Prieto Scott, Rauol and Alex Prieto, three grandchildren, two great grandchildren, his wife Maria, step-son Pablo Ferre and sisters Vera Prieto Wall and Veronica Prieto Berg.

Ben loved the Village that he lived in his entire 89 years and had a gift for remembrance which made him quite a historian of Palm Springs. Ben Prieto will be interned at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cathedral City, CA.