Do any of you know "Big Ben" ?

This was on Westfly

Big Ben

I see that he has posted here a number of times. Very sad

[clacksteel]

That is absolutely tragic...I have talked to him on a couple of occasions. I will be praying for him and his family.

[blazerman]

This is very sad. I met Ben at a Westfly Rondi once and he seemed to be a very stand up guy. Sad news indeed.

[LunkerFish]

Definately a surprise and tragic. I will definately keep him and his family in my prayers. Although I only know him through his posts, I think highly of him and I certainly will be rooting for him.

[Riverkeeper]

Although I have not met the guy, I think he is one of the most entertaining personalities in our local world of internet fly fishing. I really hope he gets better. :depressed:

[SilverFly]

Very sad to hear this. I have always gotten a kick out of reading his posts and was looking forward to fishing with him some day. By all accounts he is a great guy. I'll be praying for him and his family.

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[Steelie Mike]

Ben is a great guy. I fished with him on several occasions and have had the pleasure of meeting his wife Kim. I hope for the day we can hit the river again. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

[stoneflyguy]

I have met him on Merrill Lake and also read some of his post on westfly and ifish. We were going to try and get out and fish a time or two but never hooked up. He seemed like a good person and a friendly fly fisherman who would take time to chat and share stories and such. I will pray for him and his family.

[LunkerFish]

Here is an update if you haven't seen it already:

Big Ben Update

Tragic. Just tragic. A reminder of how frail life, and each one of us, can be.

I'm still rooting for him and his family.

[Ryan Pultz]

it is a very sad thing. rp

[Meskel]

It is a very sad thing indeed. It is also a small world. My sister just called asking me for any advice I could give her. Seams that a fellow student in her teaching program just tried to take his own life, when she said his name was Ben I made the connection.
I inquired a little more and she said that he loved to show the whole class of his fishing exploits. So this must be the Big Ben you are all speaking of.

The reason my sister turned to me for answers is due to the fact just a few months back I lost a brother-in-law in the same manner. To say that we were close is an understatement; we lived under the same roof and shared the same love for much of life including fly fishing. I was never led to believe that there was anything so wrong for him to have a bad day let alone that would cause him to do such a thing. Quite to the contrary, we were just getting ready for Nookslayers bachelor trip(fishing the upper D)

The only advice I could give her, to help her try and understand, was that a person who takes this action can’t fathom the severity and reality that is inflicted on even the remotest individual that has ever touched their life. Not to mention those that are left to live under the same roof they once shared with them. I told her that if at all possible she needed to be their for Ben’s family. Not just now but also a week, a month and a year from now.

And remember there is a silver lining in every cloud.

I now have two nieces that will grow up with me being a father to them for at least some time. Unfortunately for them, being of such a young age, they will never know how great their real father truly was.

Your family’s thoughts and prayers go out to Ben and more importantly to those who love and know him.

[john montana]

jimbeau posted a link on westfly that takes you to ben's picture homepage...i find it a good place to look while thinking positive thoughts...here is the link for those of you who want to know a little about this man who has clearly touched so many:

http://public.fotki.com/BenKim/bens_fishing_pics/

ben is a class act.

[greenbuttskunk]

I've never met Ben, but this sounds absolutely terrible.!
I've been close to some who have done what Ben did, and like others say, it affects so many. When someone gets to this point, they can only really think of their own pain. My heart goes out to his family and close friends.