Benjamin Bennie Candelaria

Benjamin Bennie Candelaria of Sandpoint, Idaho, made his transition from here to heaven on January 21, 2009, at the good ol’ age of 70. He was born on the Fourth of July, 1938, In Merced, California. He was preceded in death by his parents Carl and Mary of Italian descent and sister Shirley Soares. Years ago, Shirley and Ben seized an opportunity and traveled to Hong Kong China together. Ben leaves behind his loving wife of 18 years, Marylou, she was affectionately known as his fiery redhead. Being a devoted man, Ben would always tell Marylou that he was here to take care of her and that he loved her around the world and back. His children include daughter Sandra Quiroz who he nicknamed “Sis” and her husband Ray and their daughter Dezirae, of Myrtle Creek, Oregon. Dezirae was Poppa Bens' little Beegie that he loved to squeeze and give a million hugs too. His son, Dr. Gary Candelaria and his fiancée, Janice Vickery of Colfax, Washington and her two sons Jason and Kyle: referred to Ben as “The Godfather.” Daughter Brenda Candelaria of Oakland, California who as a baby he nick-named her “Fuzzy Wuzzy” because her hair stood straight up. Also, step children Cheryl Larson and husband Jon and their children Elliot, Erin and Evan, of Marysville, California who have a long-standing joke about “behinds”, Natalie Junge and husband Brad and daughter Ally, of Spokane, Washington; brother's Dale, Joey and Dominick; sisters Carrie and Carlee, all of California. At the age of 13, Ben went to work on “Uncle Manuel’s” dairy farm in Dos Palos, CA. It is here that he learned his hard work ethic and that he couldn’t sit still. Later on in life, he made many friends through working in sales at Granny Goose Foods. In 1991, he traded in his sharp dressed clothes and shiny shoes for camouflage gear because he and his wife, Marylou moved to Sandpoint, ID, which was his lifelong dream place to retire. Ask anyone that knew Ben and they would say that he lived his life to the fullest, even to the very end. He is best described as an avid outdoorsman. Even though he did always enjoy watching John Wayne movies over and over again, it was easy to find him outside tending to his vegetable garden and mowing the lawn to look like a golf course on his ranch. Ben made sure to plant potatoes every year so his granddaughters could share in the fun of digging up potatoes with him. He always took pride in his work however big or small the task was. Ben is most notably known for being a man’s man. Ben loved to golf the local courses with his buddies and there are many stories to tell about what kind of trouble “the boys” got into, but we’ll save that for a later time. When he wasn’t golfing he was found many times, asleep in the tulles with a lab at his hip while duck hunting. That was the REAL Ben, totally relaxed and simply taking in the beautiful splendor that God created. He was not afraid to lie in muddy fields, stand in frigid waist deep water, or hunker down in ice-sheathed blinds all season long. He took many individuals under his wings to teach and share the love of duck hunting. In 1972, Ben took Mark Davis, who was 12 years old, hunting for the first time and they’ve been friends ever since. Ben loved to tell all kinds of stories about his trips. There were many hunting trips with his friends Lopez, and friend of 45 years, Steve Schubauer. Recently, just two years ago, while recovering in ICU, Ben was drawn for a moose tag. We believe that being drawn for a moose is what pulled him through those long weeks of recovery. He had put his name into the drawing every year for 17 years and never got drawn until that lucky day. A few of his friends took him hunting and Ben shot a 1200 pound moose. He was still weak from surgery so his friends gutted the moose and drove him home to celebrate. When he wasn’t hunting, he was out catching a “big one!” Ice fishing, deep sea fishing in Mexico and lake fishing were other ways he loved to spend time with his family and friends. He always felt “lucky” and would take his daughter Sandy up to Reno to gamble at a moments notice. Ben “just knew” that he was going to win the big lottery. In fact, he did win twice, they were $500 scratch offs and he quickly shared the winnings by telling Marylou to take all the quilting ladies out to lunch. Ben celebrated his 70th birthday last summer on the 4th of July with a roasted pig and 30 of his closest friends and family. It was great to see him go in front of the crowd and sing karaoke. He was known to be the life of the party. We are so thankful that we just celebrated Christmas with his kids and grandkids. Such special memories were made and yes, we can hear Ben in the background trying to take credit for the food by saying, “This is the best I ever made…” when in actuality the food was being cooked by someone else. He had a great sense of humor. He would tease family friend, Suzi and say that he was the “Game Warden” and that she was under arrest. Ben appreciated Suzi’s boys when they helped out around the house these past few years and when he spoke of Levi, he would say that he always loved that kid, and Lincoln should be a stand up comedian. Ben was always there to lend a helping hand from snow plowing the neighbor’s driveway, to lending a stranger a bag of decoys so they could have a good duck hunt. Ben did not know a stranger and made sure to keep in contact with family and friends throughout the years. He had a fondness for animals, especially his black labs and his small dog Casper a.k.a. “Beedo’s”. Don’t ask me how he came up with these nicknames. Ben was affectionately known as: Big Ben, Poppa Ben, Goose, Candelaria, The Godfather and Pop. We will miss his hugs, they would provide instant warmth and comfort to the soul. We miss you! He will truly be missed by many friends and family members, especially his fiery red head. A memorial service will be held to celebrate his life on Thursday February 5, 2009, at 3 pm at Cedar Hills Church with Pastor Eric Rust officiating. 4100 Mcghee Rd #1 Sandpoint. Following the service there will be a pot luck dinner at the Sandpoint Community Hall.