Ben Ware Lindsay

Ben W. Lindsay January 15, 1914 – May 29, 2005 A quiet man of dignity and grace, Ben W. Lindsay passed away on May 29, 2005 at the Westminster Manor Health Care Center in Austin, Texas, from living a long and good life. Benjamin Ware Lindsay, only son and youngest of three children of Zebedee (ZD) Lindsay and Addie Manning, was born in Monticello, Arkansas, on January 15, 1914. His father was a circuit riding Methodist minister in southwestern Arkansas. The family settled in Nashville, Arkansas, where he attended school, graduating in 1933. He graduated from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, in 1936, and then attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville on a baseball scholarship, earning an MBA in finance in 1938. He married Elizabeth Hughes in Longview, Texas on November 24, 1940, and they had two children, Rebecca Anne and Larry Hughes. In 1981 his wife Elizabeth died and on November 11, 1982, he married Frances C. Francis of Austin. He was a longtime member of Tarrytown United Methodist Church, in Austin, Texas and also active for many years in the First Presbyterian Church of Ouray, Colorado, and then the United Church of the San Juans in Ridgway, Colorado. Ben loved airplanes and cars and just about anything with a motor, like his Indian, Henderson, and Harley Davidson motorcycles he had in high school. When Wiley Post barnstormed into Nashville, Arkansas during the 1920s, he sneaked a forbidden ride in Post’s biplane and was hooked. Ben later learned to fly a Curtiss Jenny biplane in the 1930s. In 1937 while visiting his sister in New York City, he saw a newspaper ad for $1-a-day jobs guiding mooring lines for the Hindenburg, so he was on hand to witness the zeppelin’s fiery destruction. In March 1942 he volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corp and initially served his country as a pilot flying B-17s across the Atlantic. Because he was older than most of the pilots and had a college degree, he became a B-17 instructor back in the States until his discharge from Fort Sam Houston in September 1945. After WWII Ben and Elizabeth moved to Austin, Texas, where he became manager of Commercial Credit Corporation. In 1949 he purchased a half share in a Ford dealership in Kerrville, Texas, which he later sold in 1954. He then established Capitol Credit Company, an automobile finance company, and built his office at 601 W. 6th Street where the Thai Tara Restaurant is now located. There he installed the first drive-up banking window in Austin. In the mid-1960s, he became an administrative assistant for Governor John B. Connally, staying on under Governors Preston Smith and Dolph Briscoe and retiring in 1979. During these years, he headed the Governor’s Committee on Aging and managed federal funds for programs for the elderly. Ben led an active and interesting life, participating in his community, church, and business, but he always had time for his family and friends. He loved hiking and camping throughout the West with family and Scouts, fishing, woodworking, restoring cars, model railroading, and baseball, coaching Little League when Larry was a boy. He loved road trips, especially through the Texas Hill Country or the mountain roads in the San Juans of western Colorado. Later when his daughter Becky married Kelvin Kent, originally from the Channel Isles, Frances and he enjoyed several trips with them to Great Britain. His lifetime commitment to Scouting was most notable. He first became a Boy Scout in 1926 and remained active until his death 79 years later. He became an Eagle Scout in 1930 and served as a scoutmaster for Troop 399 for 11 years, personally guiding 53 Austin boys to achieving Eagle Scout rank. He was also very active in the Capitol Area Council scouting programs and served as a member of the Council Executive Board for many years. Following his uncle Joe Lindsay, one of the founders of the Tonkawa Lodge in 1937, Ben was the Order of the Arrow Lodge Advisor for Tonkawa Lodge for 29 years, also serving as a Section Advisor for 7 years. His many scouting awards include the Vigil Honor in 1967, Silver Beaver in 1969, Member of the 1910 Society, and the National Distinguished Service Award in 1979. At the Lost Pines Scout Reservation in Bastrop, Texas, the Lindsay Lodge was dedicated to him in 1997 in recognition of his outstanding service to Scouting. Other honors include the first Austin’s Most Valuable Citizen Award, presented by Mayor Tom Miller, the Ouray, Colorado Lifetime Achievement Award for dedicated service to God and country, and a Paul Harris Fellowship from Rotary International. A longtime member of the Downtown Kiwanis Club of Austin, Texas, Ben often remarked that there was a time when he could walk down Congress Avenue and personally know the owner of every business on the street. For the last 23 years, he spent his summers in Ouray, Colorado, where he was well known for co-founding the local Curmudgeon Club which met most mornings to ponder life and solve the world’s problems over coffee. Ben was pre-deceased by his parents, first wife Elizabeth, and siblings Anne L. Sims and Eldora Haller. He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Frances, his daughter Becky and husband Kelvin Kent, of Ouray, Colorado, son Larry and wife Rebecca Salinger, of Austin, Texas, and one granddaughter, Rachel Lindsay, of Austin and Savannah, Georgia. He is also survived by Frances’ children, Tom Francis and wife Nelda and their children and grandchildren, Phyllis Waddle and husband Dan and her children, all of Austin, Texas, and her grandson David Francis of Georgia and parents Mary and Tom Ambrose, and many more Francis family members. His passing will be felt by all of his family and friends in Texas, Colorado, and Arkansas, and the many Scouts whose lives he touched in his own special way. Many thanks to the staff at Westminster Manor and Hospice Austin for all their tender care of Ben. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1, 2005 at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N. Lamar. Memorial services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 2, 2005, at Tarrytown United Methodist Church, 2601 Exposition. Memorials in celebration of his long and full life may be sent to Lindsay Memorial Fund, Tonkawa Lodge, c/o Capitol Area Council, 7540 Ed Bluestein Blvd., Austin, Texas 78723. Memorials and guestbook available online at wcfish.com