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Ben's
Movie
Obituary
for Ben Zeigler
Bennie
Joseph Zeigler, 60, owner of Ben’s Harley Repair in Thorp, WA, died October
27, 2003, in a vehicle accident on Hwy 93 in Nevada.
Born
in Rulo, Nebraska on June 7, 1943, Ben was the second of five children of Gerald
and Lucille (Baudendistal) Zeigler. Ben
moved from Nebraska to California after his service in the Navy, and then moved
to Thorp, WA, in 1988.
He
and Maura Sullivan had been together since they met in 1982 and were married in
their home in Thorp on Valentine’s Day, 1990.
Shortly
after moving to California, Ben began working at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard,
where he retired after 20 years, in 1987, as the Foreman of the Steam Governor
Shop, repairing large Naval vessels.
Ben’s
lifelong love was motorcycles, which he rode & work on from an early age.
He was a long-time member of the Nuggets Motorcycle Club of Southern
California and became a member of the Yakima Valley Motorcycle Association upon
moving to Thorp, and a member of the newly established Kittitas County Chapter
of ABATE.
On
his property in Thorp, he established Ben’s Harley Repair in 1988, and built
it into a flourishing and respected business.
In recent years, he, alone, and with his wife, traveled frequently to
Arizona for vacations and business. And
it was upon returning alone from a business trip in Arizona and California that
he killed in a single vehicle accident south of Wells, Nevada.
Ben
and Maura had a wonderful & loving life together & an especially great
year, attending a first-time family reunion in Rulo, several other vacations,
and of course, lots of motorcycle riding. He
was a man with a strong personality & many, many friends far and wide &
will be truly missed.
He
was preceded in death by his father, Gerald, and is survived by his wife, Maura;
daughter, Lisa Marie of Portland, Oregon; his mother, Lucille, of Rulo,
Nebraska; brothers, Jim (Peggy) of Sunnyside, WA; David & family of
Connecticut; sisters, Dorothy of Kansas City, Missouri and Connie, of Rulo,
Nebraska; stepdaughter, Amy Sullivan of Kittitas & son-in-law, Loren Nutt of
Ellensburg, and their children, Jonathan & Sabrina Nutt; and many nieces,
nephews & cousins.
WE WILL
MISS YOU!