Several memorial services were held for Ben:
1. November 29, 2007, at The College of William and Mary, in the historic Wren Chapel. The fencing foils laid in front of his mask and foil (shown throughout this website) were placed there at the end of this ceremony by his fencing teammates.
One of the speakers at this service was Tommy Hennig, team co-captain. His talk appears below. Other speakers included Gene Nichol, president of William and Mary, Rev. Jeffrey Buffkin, Ben's sister Laurel, and his father Jeff.
Laurel read selections from Star Trek, Ray Bradbury, and J.R. Tolkein.
2. December 22, 2007, Rochester, NY, at Brook-Lea Country Club. Close to 400 friends and family heard several of his friends (Jocelyn Svengsouk, Chris McCue, Vinayak Venkataraman), his fencing coach Colin Clinton, high school teacher Robert Bradley, and Ben's sister Laurel and father Jeff spoke about him, while long time friend Brent Burkhardt sang an original composition. Dan McCue, father of Chris and Ben's best friend David, introduced the speakers.
3. January 3, 2008, at McQuaid Jesuit High School. More than 300 high school classmates, faculty, parents and other friends attended this ceremony led by one of his favorite teachers, Father James Van Dyke S.J., who came from New York City especially to honor his former student. Other speakers included McQuaid Principal Fr. Lawrence Wroblewski, S.J. President Bill Hobbs, Chris McCue, Chris Larrabee, Noah Harp, and McQuaid teachers Andrew Boone and Tracey Bors. Christopher Brandt played an original piano composition.
See below to learn more.
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