Benjamin Glasgow McDaniel Sr.

McDANIEL, BENJAMIN GLASGOW, age 75, of Birmingham, passed away peacefully on June 7, 2013. Ben was born on June 24, 1937 and lived all his life in Birmingham. He graduated from Edgewood Elementary School, Shades Valley High School and Auburn University. He served as a lieutenant the U.S. Army in Germany from 1959 to 1961. Following his military service, Ben began a distinguished business career that culminated as President and CEO of Goldome Credit Corporation. Ben will be remembered for his wit, humor, generosity, and intellectual curiosity. He was a wise and trusted advisor. Ben was involved in numerous clubs and organizations and was an active member of Vestavia Country Club and Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church.

Ben is survived by his devoted wife of fifty-four (almost 55) years, Carol Lynn Zell McDaniel; daughters Amy McDaniel Williams (husband, Steve), Ann Marie McDaniel Lewis (husband, Brian) and son, Benjamin Glasgow McDaniel, Jr. (wife, Cynthia); sister, Betsy McDaniel; first cousin; Margaret Duncan; grandchildren, Elizabeth, Morgan, Benjamin III, and Whit McDaniel and Benjamin and Caitlin Lewis; five nephews, four nieces, and countless other loving relatives. Ben was predeceased by parents Elmer and Marietta McDaniel and brother, Elmer “Sonny” McDaniel. Visitation will be at Ridout’s Valley Chapel in Homewood on Sunday, June 9, 2013 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Funeral service will be at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church on Monday, June 10, 2013 at 11:00 AM. A private family committal service will take place at Elmwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made, at Ben’s request, to Auburn University, Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church or a charity of your choice. Online condolences may be sent to www.dignitymemorial.com/ridouts-valley-chapel.

Snapshots of Ben’s Life Story:

Ben was born on June 24, 1937, as the nation came out of the Depression and entered into an era of prosperity. In 1941, two dramatic events occurred: Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and a so-called friend shot Ben in the rump with a bow and arrow. As he put it, “You know which event made the most impression on me.”

One day during the WWII wartime rationing, Ben’s sly mother, who needed a few hours of quiet time at home, sent him off to the store to “pick up pineapples and bananas.” After a fruitless search, Ben asked the store manager for help locating the items. All he got in response to this impossible wartime request was a big belly laugh.

Ben became a master at pulling harmless pranks and known for being quite the jokester. Ben loved laughing and creating laughter. He and some friends created a group call “Jolly Boys” soon after his retirement from Goldome Credit Corporation The Jolly Boys met weekly for lunch at Vestavia Country Club and enjoyed laughter and tight friendships.

One day as a child, Ben was hanging out at “Doc” Temerson’s drug store in Edgewood and was cutting up with his buddies in his typical fashion when Doc muttered in disgust, “Darn kids, never earned a dollar in their lives.” Upon hearing this, Ben got a job in a grocer’s making “all the Dr. Peppers you can drink plus tips.” On the first day, he drank 13 Dr. Peppers, which caused him to fail to show up to work on the second day… and the third. Too much Dr. Pepper is, well, too much.

In the seventh grade, Ben met the girl who would one day become his wife. Lynn noticed one day that Ben had written on a school book “LZ + BM.” For years to come, he was dazzled by Lynn, and in high school he also became dazzled by her pool table. The balls were so colorful. One day he put a purple billiards ball in his pocket and took it on home. Decades later, Ben recounted this story to his children with a chuckle and a special gleam in his eye. What was it that caused the special gleam - the mischief of the purple ball or the memory of the pretty little girl who lived in the house with the pool table?

In 1955, Ben and his girlfriend, the pretty little girl with the pool table, headed off to Auburn (known then as Alabama Polytechnic Institute). Ben said that his days at Auburn University were among the happiest times of his life. He joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and enjoyed the fun with good friends who good-naturedly called him “Stick” because he was so skinny. Auburn became a life-long love of Ben’s. He was a season football ticket holder and proudly bellowed “War Eagle” whenever he met another Auburn fan. He established the Ben G. McDaniel Presidential Scholarship in the Business School at Auburn University and served on the Auburn Alumni Board. He was proud of what Auburn accomplished, noting that “even in an ever-changing world, Auburn seems to have retained certain small-town values.”

On June 19, 1959, not long after graduation, Ben and Lynn were wed. Ben was also called to serve in the U.S. Army, not for just six months as many of his classmates were called to do, but for two years. Ben was sent to Germany (reporting in around the same time for a shave and a haircut as Elvis Presley, who was in Ben’s unit in Germany). The newlyweds were apart for several months, after which, Lynn was allowed to join 1st Lieutenant Ben McDaniel overseas. They shared many adventures in the foreign land including driving around one Italian city, lost, repeatedly saying, “Oh! There’s that Golden Door again!” Despite such humorous adventures as a newly married couple, Ben had no desire to stay in the army longer than was required. His job as a lieutenant had involved riding around in a tank and spending brutally cold nights in it. When the East Germans put up the Berlin wall, Ben worried that he would be held in the army for additional time, but he wrote in a journal that he was “set free” in 1961. He told his daughter that when he arrived in New York, he hopped in his white Volkswagon Bug he and Lynn had bought in Germany and happily drove in the rain without windshield wipers all the way back to Birmingham.

Once Ben was back, it was time to find a job. Ben was a Business Administration major in college and thought perhaps he would work at the local steel mill. Ben did not envision himself as a CPA; however an employment counselor encouraged him to apply for a job at Peat Marwick, where several partners were friends of his father. He had a successful interview which included providing a writing sample to provide assurance to his future boss that he could write legibly. Ben worked for Peat Marwick from October 1961-April 1966.

While Ben was at Peat Marwick, he and Lynn had only the Volkswagen for transportation. After teaching at the elementary school each day, Lynn would drive to the appointed corner to pick Ben up from work. However, she was often lost in her thoughts of the school day and would just drive right past him! It happened nearly every day. The memory of it provided laughter for years to come.

A year after Ben started at Peat Marwick, Ben’s and Lynn’s daughter, Amy, was born. The next year, Ben was scheduled to take the CPA exam and he embarked on a period of intense study. During these arduous hours, Lynn would stick her head in to see if Ben needed some respite from his studies, only to find Ben playing and dancing with Amy. Notwithstanding these transgressions, Ben passed all parts of the CPA examination in one sitting, quite an unusual result at that time.

In 1966, Ben Jr. was born, and Ben Sr. decided he needed a new job with more pay. He found it at Investors Fidelity, where he became the Administrative Vice President and Treasurer. In the early 1970s, the company needed to register securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Ben recalls flying numerous times to Washington, D.C. on flights leaving Birmingham at 3:30 a.m. to discuss the matter with the SEC. He was out of town when Lynn went into labor with their third child. Ben was allowed priority seating on a flight and was able to get to the hospital in time for the birth of Ann Marie on March 30, 1967.

While at Investor’s Fidelity, Ben met Robert Brannon, with whom Ben began a career in the mortgage business. Bob and Ben worked at the mortgage company for years, first with it as a subsidiary of Centran Bank, and later as a subsidiary of Goldome Bank. Ben was the President and CEO and Bob was the Chairman of the Board. In 1991, Goldome Bank, on the verge of insolvency, could no longer fund the operations of the mortgage company, Goldome Credit Corporation, so the business was wound down. At the age of 52, Ben found himself retired. Many suggested he would want to find another job, but he settled nicely into a busy life of retirement. His retirement afforded him more time to spend with his family, pursue a variety of interests and philanthropic endeavors, and build a wide network of friends through the various groups, clubs and organizations he joined.

Ben enjoyed his fellowship not only with the Jolly Boys at Vestavia Country Club but also with a group of men who met at Vestavia Country Club to play the card game, Gin Rummy. All of his life he enjoyed playing bridge and in retirement he joined two bridge groups. He and Lynn also enjoyed his Sunday School class and Supper Club.

Although Ben was not the serious student as a teen, he spent his entire adult life learning, and loving learning. His library is filled from floor to ceiling with literature, poetry, and books on history, religion, and business. He read voraciously and was an avid collector of quotes and excerpts that cause a person to take pause. He had the gift of words and was seen by others as a human encyclopedia. Many sought his wise counsel, and he found himself the leader of many groups he joined. He served as Treasurer of the National Second Mortgage Association and led many Bible discussion groups and book clubs as well as current events meetings through a New Horizons group. He was an also active member of SPAFER, a group who enjoys fellowship and intellectual stimulation while exploring and seeking a more meaningful understanding of religion. He was a financial advisor to all who asked for his help.

Ben was a warm, supportive, and playful father. When Amy, Ben, and Ann Marie were young, he would let them ride on his knee as he sung the Ridey Horsey song. He told cheesy jokes, sang silly songs and did silly things in order to get his children laughing. He reduced the boredom of long car rides by telling his children stories, including a series of ghost stories featuring two Hardy Boys type characters known as Billy Bob and Charlie Joe. As his children got older, he would engage them in discussions to foster knowledge of topics and encourage problem solving. Whenever the children would bicker, he would say chant the Bible verse, “Be kind, one to another, tender-hearted forgiving each other.” He also encouraged thankfulness in his children and taught them the traditional McDaniel blessing that was passed down from his father: “Heavenly Father, forgive our sins and give us thankful hearts for these and all the many blessings. We ask in Christ’s Name. Amen.”

Lynn describes Ben a caring, protective, loving, devoted husband who knew how to make her laugh.

As Winnie-the-Pooh said, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

We found this poem on his desk:

Death is nothing at all.

I have only slipped away to the next room.

I am I and you are you.

Whatever we were to each other,

That, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.

Speak to me in the easy way

which you always used.

Put no difference into your tone.

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed

at the little jokes we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word

that it always was.

Let it be spoken without effect.

Without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same that it ever was.

There is absolute unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind

because I am out of sight?

I am but waiting for you.

For an interval.

Somewhere. Very near.

Just around the corner.

All is well.

Canon Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918), England