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Benjamin David Carroll
03/06/1978 — 04/28/2008
From Richland, WA, US | Born in Seattle, Washington
Benjamin David Carroll
Benjamin David Carroll, beloved son of Dr. David and Michael Carroll, passed from life on Monday, April 28, 2008.
Ben was born in Seattle, Washington on March 6, 1978. Ben moved with his family in 1983 to Richland where he resided until called home to be with his Lord. Ben graduated from Hanford High in 1996, the University of Washington in 2000, and Pepperdine School of Law in 2003. Ben was licensed to practice law in Washington in 2004.
The love of Ben's life was his fiancée Nichole Rushin. They were not able to complete a ceremony but they were married in their hearts. Both were active in Columbia Bible Church.
Ben's life from age 5 was spent in a wheel chair and he overcame many obstacles to become a man who loved the Lord and always had a positive outlook on life. Ben was a joy to be with and was gifted with sharp wit and a great sense of humor. He easily made friends and was blessed with classmates and family who loved him dearly.
Ben was a romantic. He envisioned things as they could be. Ben loved music of many types, enjoyed the theater and films, dining out in fine restaurants, fantasy sports, professional wrestling, watching his sisters in sports, and using the internet extensively. Ben learned to reinvent himself and adapt his body to his lifelong progressing illness. Ben was always ready to speak for his beliefs and was a testimony for us all.
Ben was supported by an extensive family. He is survived by his sisters, Jennifer Lopez Jorge and Wendy Dammarell Ryan, grandmother Arden Ibatuan, great grandmother Carmen Booth, great aunt and uncle Christine and Richard Grantham, great uncles Pat and Bill Booth, aunt and uncle Lynn and Mark Ibatuan, aunt and uncles Tina and Donald Carroll, Judy and Doug Carroll, Jeanette and Rick Gagner, and many cousins.
Ben was preceded in death by Robert Ibatuan, Clarence Booth and Shannon Rogers.
The family would like to thank Drs. Lawrence, Washington and Dickens, many physicians at the U of WA Medical Center and Children's Orthopedic Hospital, Wishing Star Foundation, and the many friends who have supported and been a part of his life.
Ben Carroll was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life.
A celebration of life service will be Saturday, May 3, 11:00 a.m. at Calvary Chapel of Tri-Cities on 412 S. Vancouver, Kennewick.
Donations in Ben' s name may be made to Make a Wish Foundation, 811 First Ave St, #520, Seattle, WA 98104, or Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation 888 7th Ave #400, New York, NY 10019.
My condolences go out to all of Ben’s family and friends. I was deeply saddened to hear of his passing. The years I spent around Ben and his family were some of the best and most memorable. He was such an inspiration to everyone he encountered. He taught me many things and helped to put life in perspective. He will be deeply missed.
Ben is an Angel who earned his “wings” here on earth.
Ben, was a unique soul. I remember when we were kids, he used to chase us in his wheelchair and how we’d all laugh. He wanted to be like us, to run and play, but to us he was like us. May he rest in peace.
I feel very lucky to have become close friends with Ben while attending law school with him. Ben was the absolute best listener; he listed intently and sincerely. This quality made him not only a dedicated friend but an amazing law student and litigator.
I cherish the memories I shared with Ben, his family and Nichole. Dinner time talks with Ben and his mom, crazy trips to Neptune’s Net and for Sunday Brunch with Ben and Jennifer, trying to get on the Price is Right with Ben and Wendy, celebrating Ben’s law school graduation with his whole family and meeting Nichole for the first time at Duke’s.
Ben’s laugh and sparkling eyes lit up rooms. Ben lived a beautiful life and touched many lives while doing so, including mine.
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
I was very privileged to have worked with Ben who was an such an outstanding person and attorney. I will always remeber Ben and Nicole sitting at a computer working on a case with Nichole laughing while Ben told a joke. He had such a fantastic sense of humor and a good legal mind. I have very fond memories of Ben being in Franklin County Superior Court for a Robbery 1st Degree jury trial and cross-examining Officer Robert Harris who helped investigate the crime and privately told me after the trial that Ben’s cross-exam was the most thorough he had ever experienced. Ben epitomized the essence of what makes both a great person and lawyer — courage in the face of adversity.
I wish I could be with you folks tomorrow at the funeral but unfortunately it is my son’s 13th birthday and my wife Barbara just passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on April 11th, and I am grieving her loss. There are no words that can adequately express the loss that you have suffered but I know in heaven Ben is being loved and admired.
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to work with one of the finest attorneys and people I have ever known.
David and Michael Our thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. The MD family has gone thru meny changes. Our Michael has been gone for 4 1/2 years now. Him and Ben are at least free of thier missshaped bodies and wheelchairs. They are both in a much better place. It makes it hard to give up our kids but we worked with them thru the hard times. Remember the good times and forget the rest. God bless you all.
Mike & Carol Tesky
I’m so glad I had the chance to get to know Ben as a bright and witty adult, having seen him so many years ago as a bright and fun child. I enjoyed our many online chats and email messages. My condolences to you all.
I first met Ben when our sons became friends in fifth grade. Their friendship continued through high school, college, and numerous visits whenever Chris could get home. Ben was always a warm and trusted “buddy”. Thank you for the honor of sharing his space, he was a truly remarkable boy, teen, man. My heart and prayers to all of you.
Linda Trice
I am so sorry for our loss of Ben. He was, and will always be, one of the greatest spirits I have ever encountered. Not only was he everything I could have ever wanted in a friend, his sense of humor, wit, candor, and perspective showed everyone around him the full potential of human beings. Rarely a day went by our first year of law school that he didn’t make our entire class laugh from one of his witty comments. Seeing him careening around campus in his wheelchair was always a welcome site. He made our world a better place and I feel so blessed to have had him in my life.
Dear Dave, Michael, Jennifer, Wendy and all the Carroll family,
We send our sympathy along with our prayers for all of you at this time of loss of Ben. We will always remember his fine sense of humor and his dedication to his family. I especially enjoyed the many softball trips and the dinners afterward. One in special comes to mind and that is the Bremerton trip when we all dined at Olive Garden in Silverdale. Ben sat in the middle of the tables and just regale the whole table with his wit and charm. I know he will be missed. Our prayers are with him that he will be reunited with his God and with Bob and Shannon. Our prayers are also with the family that they may be comforted at this time knowing that he was loved by God and that his spirit is now free of his body.
Our love and prayers,
Bruce and Karen Bowman
I am sorry to hear about your lose. Just take care in knowing that he is in a better place and has the perfect body. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
I am so lucky to have grown up around the Carroll Family. I remember Ben watching our every Softball game, and keeping my youngest brother entertained, by telling him his wheel chair had rockets. He would then ride him around.
I think about the Carroll family from time to time and try and model my family values around theirs. I remember being at their house when I was young and Ben always giving me a bad time, joking with me, making fun of me, treating me like a “sister!”
I was honored to know him as a child and young teen/adult. I wish I would have known him as a man, I think he would have enriched my life.
Love Dalaina Layne and Family
It is very sad to hear of Ben’s passing. I remember him as such a funny and witty young man through high school and when he would come to all our softball games to cheer us on. I will always remember his smile. Our thoughts are with you.
-Stacy Epperly and Family
To Ben’s Family. He was a wonderful person to grow up with and displayed immense dedication to life. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. With love, Tony and Martha Sorensen DeAmicis
Ben will always be one of my heros. His drive to succeed and his optimism for life helped me to put things in perspective at times. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you right now. I know that your faith in the Lord and the knowledge that Ben is RUNNING around making everyone in Heaven laugh will help the hurt ease a little. Please let me know if there is anything I can do.
I was saddened to hear of Ben’s passing. I met Ben our first year of law school. He was my next door neighbor and became a good friend. He was a good person and a great listener. He seemed to always know how to make me laugh, no matter what was going on. I know I, along with everyone else, will miss him.
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
It was a great privilege to have known Ben and to have had the opportunity to call him a friend.
I met him in junior high school and I can’t count the number of hours we spent together “hanging out” from then on into our college years. I had lost touch with him afterwards, but was not surprised in the least when I heard he had completed law school and passed the bar. When we were young, I would occasionally help him pack his books or take notes in class, but he was so intrepid and independent it was impossible to think of him as any different than the rest of us. He made the challenges he faced seem nonexistent.
To this day I can scarcely imagine how one man can manifest such incredible strength and courage in character and in spirit. I will remember him not only as a friend, but as a cardinal example of how we can all brave the hardships we encounter. My deepest condolences to your family for your loss. He will be missed.
I was very sorry to hear of Ben’s passing. I so enjoyed working with him here at DVR and looked forward to every meeting we had. I found him to be an exceptionally warm-hearted man with a great sense of humor and unending optimism. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Remembering Ben
I am Benâs friend. With no hesitation I would describe Ben as a person who lived life with the belief that it is impossible to never have enough fun and to enjoy life. He took responsibility for his dreams to BECOME. Never did he let himself be victim of adversity.
I met Ben through my workâs high school summer job program. I got a call âCould I take a student? This was at least 13 yrs ago. I asked: Does he know anything about computers?… Can he program? YES. Ok Iâll give him a call. The rest is history.
Ben came as a summer student and kept coming back for many summers! Over the years we stayed in touch.
Being around Ben— he changed how people thought. We all have disabilities. For most of us they are not obvious to others. The point is, too often we let our disabilities and/or our beliefs about them hold the potential of others and ourselves back.
When he first came to work most of the staff saw disability. Immediately nothing was possible. Ben changed their belief system! By definition we do our work with computers take them away and I would say we would be unable to work. Mobility is not a factor in the equation of whether we can work and about how well we do our work or be part of the working community. Email, phones, on-line chat-rooms, exchanging electronic files of pictures, text, movies etc. is our way of doing work⦠Very quickly the staff saw Ben as everything being possible. When the formal summer program was over Ben stayed on paid of course to continue working the project and he kept coming back in the summer to work on other projects.
Ben as a friend gave me a very precious gift that is best represented a quote by Stephen Paul âAllow the earth to be part of Heavenâ. For me the gift is to see and experience the world through this lens. It makes a huge good difference in my every day life. Another way of expressing the same idea is that the glass is more than half full. You just have to see it that way.
I am constantly reminded to do this. Ben had a panache for ties. He had a tie for EVERY occasion. While you might think ties are out of vogue⦠look carefully there is always that special tie. When I look for and/or see one I am always reminded to be responsible for —-make my dreams BECOME, allow earth to be part of heaven, and have fun in this life. I think Ben would like us all to do this everyday⦠I know I will continue to.
To all of the Carroll family,
I just found out of Ben’s Passing through the internet obituary page. What a wonderful young man. I spoke with him at many softball games and his wit and candor were unsurpassed. I have always had the utmost respect and admiration for all of the Carroll’s, as they did not allow any obstacles to stand in the way of Ben’s life and progress. I heard it once said that the number of friends we leave behind is a true testament of the person. I have read memorials from Boston to California, and many points in between. That alone speaks for Ben. May God truly bless all of you. Your friend,
Rick Herrington
Guestbook for
Benjamin David Carroll