In Memoriam
Benton L. Moyer III
Ben Moyer
1964 graduation
Ben Moyer passed away on November 16, 2020. Below are the following:
Obituary
Boston Globe
November 30, 2020
MOYER, Benton "Ben" Leslie Age 79, of Brookline
Benton ("Ben") Leslie Moyer, III passed away at home on Nov. 16 after a valiant struggle with encephalitis.
He leaves behind his loving wife of 48 years, Frannie; his children, Benito and wife Lizzie, Billy and wife Kiley, Annie and partner Renee; his brother Peter and wife Gricel; his sister Nancy Moyer Dingman and husband, Tom; seven wonderful grandchildren, and numerous other devoted relatives and close friends.
Born in NJ on Oct. 1, 1941, Ben and his family moved to Franconia, NH in 1954. He graduated from St. Paul's School (1960) and Yale (1964). In 1965, he joined the Peace Corps in Colombia, which had a profound impact on the rest of his life.
Returning to the States, he went to Cornell Business School and then joined the international department of the Bank of Boston in 1969 with a first assignment to Australia for two years. For the next seventeen years, he and his wife Frannie and their three kids lived overseas — in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Panama, and Taiwan.
While overseas, Ben, known to his family as "the energizer bunny", led them on adventures up the Andes, to the capitals of Europe, South to Egypt, Turkey, India, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, and skiing in South Korea. A remarkable gift for which his wife and children are forever grateful.
He took early retirement in 1996 and immediately joined Wainwright Investment Counsel where he worked for the next fifteen years. During this time he also did other projects such as running troubled banks.
In 2002, he joined the Board of ProMujer International, a micro finance institution providing micro loans to women in Central and South America and for two years served as CEO, again traveling throughout the regions. He always said it was his "best work experience because of the staff, the board, the clients and the mission".
In 1993, following the leadership roles of his parents Ben and Beryl Moyer, he joined the Board of Copper Cannon, a summer camp in Franconia NH for underserved young people in the state. His kindness, enthusiasm, and his passion for helping others continued throughout his life.
Ben was also a fine athlete — a golfer, tennis and squash player, and a super fan of all the sports his children and grandchildren played. He loved skiing and organized many group trips to Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. He ran marathons in the mountains of Bolivia, and for many years participated in the PanMass Challenge.
In July 2009, while visiting friends in Jackson Hole, he suffered a stroke after an early=morning jog. With his usual determination, he continued to exercise, play "lousy golf" (his words), and to travel — to Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, Haiti, the Galapagos, the Viking Danube River tour, Nicaragua, and every year to Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic to play golf and enjoy being with his family and friends.
Though his health declined, he was not a quitter and fought hard to his last moment when he finally left in peace, at home, his dog Huck Finn on his bed with him.
Above all, he was devoted to his large extended family. Throughout his life he taught them to "be a giver, not a taker."
A celebration of Ben's life will be held at a later date. Should you want to follow his lead, you can send a donation to the Ben Moyer Copper Cannon Camp Memorial Fund, PO Box, 124, Franconia, NH 03580.
Message from his wife Frannie
We were notified by his wife Frannie, who sent the following email:
To you, wonderful friends of Ben,
I am writing you with sad news. Ben passed away Monday morning at 1:20am, finally freed from the troubles of his body. Luckily, my three children were here all last week, and each was able to say goodbye to Ben in the hospital when he could hear them.
By Thursday when the boys returned to NYC and LA, we had decided as a family to stop all life support and we brought him home Friday where Huck could hop up on his bed and bring him comfort. We had lovely hospice nurses with us 24 hours each day. He had a hard time, the last days, but his final transition was calm, just as the storm was quieting outside our window.
from Ben's obituary
With only one hour of sleep, the rest of Monday was a blur but at least last night I slept from 8:00pm to 4:00am this morning. Today will be hard but I have been supported throughout by Ben's brother Peter, his sister Nancy, and here at the house with Annie and my sister Sandy. Memories of our 50 years together continue to fill my spirit.
Thank you for your support and thoughts. Ben and I have always felt blessed by our wonderful community of friends.
Frannie
Autobiographical Essay
by Ben Moyer
Published in 2014 in our 50th Reunion Class Book
Ben Moyer
50th Reunion Class Book
The most important thing in my life is my wife and kids. Since 1972, while I worked for the Bank of Boston, we lived in Latin America, Asia, and Boston and we have friends from all those places. I am very proud of my wife Frannie and her work as a high-school English teacher in Boston, Latin America, Newton, and now, though retired, she is mentoring newer teachers in the Boston public schools. My three children were each born in a different country and continue to love travel. My oldest, Benito, presently works in London with Saba, a contrarian hedge fund; he is happily married and has two little boys. My second son, Billy, works long hours for Deutsche Bank in NYC in real estate on large deals. My daughter Annie married her partner, Renee Martinez, and they live in Brooklyn where she works, like Frannie, with adolescents in a nonprofit, Youth Development Institute.
I also feel lucky to have had interesting and challenging work. In 1965, I joined the Peace Corps in Colombia which I greatly enjoyed, and then went to Cornell Business School. With the Bank of Boston, I lived in Australia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Panama, and Taiwan. I saw significant changes in Latin America in my thirty years as countries shifted from a colonial empire to a more vibrant economic community. In 1996, I took early retirement from the Bank and joined Wainwright Investment Council where I worked for the next fifteen years. It gave me freedom to do finance as well as other projects such as running troubled banks. ln 2002, I joined the Board of Pro Mujer International, a micro finance institution providing micro loans to women in Central and South America. For two years, I worked as CEO; this was my best work experience because of the staff, the board, the clients and the mission.
In 1993, I joined the Board of Copper Cannon, a free camp in Franconia NH where my parents lived for the past fifty years. My involvement with the camp began with my father and has become a major interest in my life.
In July 2009, after an early morning run in Jackson Hole where I was visiting Charlie Thomson, I had a stroke which I never expected. It was a major change in my life. I was flown immediately to Salt Lake City where I was fortunate to receive great care in the University of Utah Stroke Center; my wife, sister, and doctor brother gave me great care for the month of recuperation there and the following months at home in Brookline. The stroke slowed me down and I had to change my daily activities: no work, lousy golf, some exercise and rest every day. I think I'm about 85% recovered but don't expect much change now. Still, I haven' t stop traveling. In the last two years, my wife and I have visited Cuba, Haiti, the Galapagos, and our vacation home in the Dominican Republic.