Stan Beni's Memorial Service

[tlanders]

Dear Friends and Relatives of Stan's,
 
The memorial service last Sunday was attended to by over 40 people. Some of Stan's motorcycle buddies were able to make it and I know all of you on this email list wanted to but most of you couldn't. It was truly a different kind of service - no program, just the Holy Spirit leading the way. After some food was served and we all were not thinking about being hungry any more (it was 12:30), Stan's pastor, Todd Holman, opened with some scripture and a prayer. Then we sang "How Great Thou Art" with piano accompaniment.
 
After we finished singing, we had a living obituary given by Nancy and Trish, Stan's sisters, when they stood up and told us about his father, mother, and the rest of his family. On the wall of the church, we were displaying a Powerpoint sequence with pictures of Stan with his friends and some of him racing. It ended with a picture of Stan riding off into the distance on his Husky wearing his maroon sweat pants, blue Husky shirt and work boots. Just seeing that made most of us tear up - it became very real to us whom we had just lost - an incredible friend!!! When Stan moved to West Plains, I invited him to come this church with Rosemary and me and I asked him in a serious tone of voice "do you have any dress sweat pants?"
 
After the obituary, I started reading some scripture. The story about the good Samaritan, the story about the widow woman who gave all she had to the Lord, the love chapter in 1st Corinthians 13, and the evidence of the Holy Spirit in one's lives as listed in Galatians 5:22 and concluded that all these were stories that described Stan, a TRUE Christian and we know where he is now.
 
Then I started reading the wonderful emails that you sent to me and the comments about Stan on the Vinduro, Penton Owners Group, Hodaka, and AHRMA CC websites. Some made everyone laugh like Rick Grants statement about Stan that "We'd talk and talk, or, more accurately, Stan would talk and talk and I'd listen". Other emails would make us all cry like Bruce Clark's accounting of what was in Stan's fanny pack at the hospital - a driver's license, a spark plug, a chap stick, and the little wooden cross that he got at our church. He had no cash, he needed to sell a bike, and yet he would be willing to give whatever he had to anyone who was in need.
 
After I would read an email from one of you, someone in the service would come up front and tell their story about Stan. He helped so many people in our community, the outpouring of love for him was tremendous. Almost every one ended in tears. At one point, a lady in the crowd just started singing the Lord's prayer. We all joined in with eyes closed and it was an incredible, powerful, misty, experience. We went back and forth telling Stan stories and memories for over 1.5 hours. After Rosemary sang the most anointed final song, "Touch Through Me Holy Spirit", our pastor closed the service with a beautiful prayer. I wish you all could have been there.
 
At the memorial service that we held for Stan at the track on Sunday in Florida, riders donated $415 to Stan's favorite charity at our church, the "Loaves and Suds" charity, which gives food to homeless people and people who can't afford food. We looked on the sign up sheet at our church for this spring and Stan had signed up to bring in the bread and potatoes on March 29, 2009. Larry Perkins was so touched by this, that he said he would take Stan's place and come back to West Plains on March 29 with his Loaves and Spuds. We gave the church the money from Florida, thank you for your generosity.
 
Nancy and Trish gathered up all his medals, plaques, trophies, event tee shirts, etc. and we brought them to the service for people to take home. I will carry them around to the races, so look me up if you want a Stan memento. Rosemary made a collage of the photos you sent and put them on a big back board and displayed them with various trophies, shirts, chap sticks, etc. on a table at the service. She also made copies of all of your emails, online Stan letters, some photos, Gideon card (10 bibles were purchased in his honor) and compiled two booklets of them and gave one to Nancy and Trish. I will carry the other one to the races for you to see. We are also making copies of it to send to Stan's other two siblings, Signe and John, who couldn't make it to the memorial service. At some point the three sisters and brother will be able to sit down and read them all. It was wonderful of you to write them and let his family know what a friend he was to everyone he met.
 
His brother John Beni is organizing a color guard memorial service for him in Florida next Saturday. For those of you who can make it, please contact John at 321-268-8393 for more details.
 
He will be missed!!!!!
 
Teddy

[Ernie Phillips]

Thanks for sharing Teddy.  -EP

[tomale]

Thanks Teddy It sounded like a great service. I hope that the same can be said of me when it is my time to go.

Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
76' 250 MC5 (orginal owner)74'
250 hare scrambler (project bike)
72'sixday (project bike)