Fallen JC member, Benjamin Hill aka BDHill1979

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Just got home from Ben's funeral, it was a packed house, lots of uniformed pilots, and a JC contingent including the ShortTrains, Mr & Mrs fly22 (plus l'il fly22), Bumblebee, TheWife and hubby CRoper, and myself.

Two of Ben's closest friends spoke, and I got the sense through their stories that we got to know the same Ben they did; he didn't hold back simply because this was just a chat forum, he was the same guy here that he was in real life.

The most touching parts of the services were Ben's sisters reading Ben's response to a Facebook chain mail, and one of his brothers reading several letters Ben wrote to his young daughters. I left the services thinking what an awesome family and friends Ben had, and how unsurprising that was.

Ben's family had put together a slide show of photos that ran in a loop on a TV in the church's foyer for guests to view, I was surprised and humbled to see that they'd lifted my avatar at left and included it in the show.

After the services, we chatted for a few minutes with Ben's brother Joseph, who posted in this thread a few days ago, to reiterate what a positive impact he had on so many people here, most of whom never actually met him. Both Joseph and his wife were quick to acknowledge the huge outpouring of support from the JC community; his family knew he spent a lot of time on here and are extremely grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Joseph said he'd had a chance to go see the aircraft, and said it was apparent that Ben passed quickly and didn't suffer, which I think we can all be grateful for.

The nine of us then left to grab some lunch, swap stories and carry on as we always do when the SLC JC crew gets together, or when any of the JC family gets together. It's just how we roll.

All in all, a sad day, but heartwarming at the same time.
 

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aloft said:
Just got home from Ben's funeral, it was a packed house, lots of uniformed pilots, and a JC contingent including the ShortTrains, Mr & Mrs fly22 (plus l'il fly22), Bumblebee, TheWife and hubby CRoper, and myself.

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Thank you very much for sharing the information with us, it is very much appreciated! And bravo to the gang for representing the J/C family:clap:

Personally, I avoid funerals whenever possible, to date, I have only attended 3 funerals, of which I had to give the eulogy at two of them......
 
I thought of him all day and was so sad that I couldn't go...didn't think everyone there wanted H1N1! Glad to hear the house was packed!
 
aloft said:
Just got home from Ben's funeral, it was a packed house, lots of uniformed pilots, and a JC contingent including the ShortTrains, Mr & Mrs fly22 (plus l'il fly22), Bumblebee, TheWife and hubby CRoper, and myself.

Two of Ben's closest friends spoke, and I got the sense through their stories that we got to know the same Ben they did; he didn't hold back simply because this was just a chat forum, he was the same guy here that he was in real life.

The most touching parts of the services were Ben's sisters reading Ben's response to a Facebook chain mail, and one of his brothers reading several letters Ben wrote to his young daughters. I left the services thinking what an awesome family and friends Ben had, and how unsurprising that was.

Ben's family had put together a slide show of photos that ran in a loop on a TV in the church's foyer for guests to view, I was surprised and humbled to see that they'd lifted my avatar at left and included it in the show.

After the services, we chatted for a few minutes with Ben's brother Joseph, who posted in this thread a few days ago, to reiterate what a positive impact he had on so many people here, most of whom never actually met him. Both Joseph and his wife were quick to acknowledge the huge outpouring of support from the JC community; his family knew he spent a lot of time on here and are extremely grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Joseph said he'd had a chance to go see the aircraft, and said it was apparent that Ben passed quickly and didn't suffer, which I think we can all be grateful for.

The nine of us then left to grab some lunch, swap stories and carry on as we always do when the SLC JC crew gets together, or when any of the JC family gets together. It's just how we roll.

All in all, a sad day, but heartwarming at the same time.
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Thanks for the update! I also got an update that our flowers (on behalf of JC) were there and looking perfect. I wish we could have made it ourselves but duty called on doug as he tried to roll with the punches of checkairman scheduling, only to have the punches rick roll him into a trip he didn't want. :o
 
Thanks for the update on the service, aloft. Reading Ben's responses to the FB "25 things" was just heart wrenching. My thoughts are with his friends, family, his best friend Ginny and those two gorgeous girls.
 
Rest in peace.... blue skies and tailwinds indeed. I didn't know him but recognized the avatar. Listening to the ATC tape got me really choked up.
 
Damn.

I haven't been on JC in a while. This is not what I was expecting to see for the first thread I would read.

RIP. My thoughts and prayers will be with his family.
 
This is very shocking to hear. I remember Ben being a major contributor to this forum and a big help for me when I was starting out in the industry. Although I'm on the other side of the world, I still cherished the knowledge he passed on. I didn't know him, but as a 210 driver/jc member this really hits home.

RIP :(
 
Very very sad thing to hear about... May he rest in peace and his family have the power to get through such difficult times. I can't imagine the pain they must be feeling and even though I never met Ben it truly tears at me.

Really makes you appreciate the important things in life and makes the petty bickering seem so unimportant. Gonna hug my wife a little tighter tonight.

RIP Ben you will be missed...
:(
 
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