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Benjamin Ward McCleary (1944 – 2022)
Memorial ServiceA memorial service was held at St. Peter’s by-the-Sea, Narragansett, RI on Thursday, October 20th at 11:00 am. A reception followed at the Dunes Club nearby. Donations may be made to South County Hospital’s Cancer Center, 100 Kenyon Ave., Wakefield, RI 02879 and HopeHealth, 1085 North Main St., Providence, RI 02904. Nassau Herald Profile
Benjamin Ward McCleary (1944-2022)From Ben's Obituary (also in the Providence Journal): Benjamin Ward McCleary, of Wakefield, Rhode Island, died peacefully at home on October 6, 2022. Born on July 9,1944 to George W. and Nancy Grim McCleary, he was raised in Darien, CT and Asheville, NC. He was a graduate of St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA and Princeton University. Upon graduation in 1966, he entered The United States Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War during which he served as Ship’s Navigator and Ship Officer aboard the USS Mauna Loa. He began his professional career at Chemical Bank in New York in 1969. In 1979, he was the lead banker for the historic government bailout of The Chrysler Corporation. In 1981, he joined Lehman Brothers and in 1986, he moved to London to head up Shearson Lehman Hutton’s European Investment Banking Division. In 1989 he returned to New York and became a partner at McFarland Dewey & Co., an investment banking firm. In 2005 he moved to RI and became a partner at SeaView Capital in Providence. He also served on the board of directors for Detrex Corporation. Lovingly referred to as Gentle Ben (GB) by his family and close friends, he was a true gentleman who was known for his sweet disposition, grace and humble demeanor. While he had many passions in life, he was best known for being a voracious reader, collector of antique maps, a railway aficionado and a devout fan of everything produced by Motown Records. In addition, he was a longtime member of The Coral Beach and Tennis Club in Bermuda, The Mill Reef Club in Antigua, The Dunes Club in Narragansett, RI where he served as President from 2011 to 2015 and the Hope Club in Providence, RI. He will be deeply missed and is survived by his wife, Jean (Muchmore), son Benjamin P. McCleary (Marjorie) of Dedham, MA, daughter Katherine C. McCleary-Garnett (Alexander)of New York, NY, his brothers Joel W. McCleary of Washington, D.C. and George W. McCleary, Jr. (Judith) of Miami, FL. He also leaves behind five granddaughters and Hobcyn, his devoted Welsh Terrier. Memories and TributesFrom Alan Kirk Gray "Ben and I were at St. Mark’s together, then roomed together Freshman year, started at Chemical Bank at the same time, 1969, and we were some years later living at the same time in Bronxville, NY. "In all those years, I always thought that Ben had an infinitely broader range of interests than almost anyone I knew, and he made any discussion he was part of about everyone else but him, unless it were to tell a self-deprecating story. He accomplished so many things without apparent effort. He was bright, hardworking and thoughtful, and great fun to be around. One of the finest people I’ve ever known, with a laughing chuckle I can hear in my memory right now. "When I saw him last, at our 60th St. Mark’s Reunion this spring, I was at the table with him when it was announced that the award for the most accomplished Class Agent would be given to him. A fitting tribute to a man of many accomplishments, and of even more friends." From Duke Lohr: "Ben and I remained very close friends after leaving Princeton. Every year he and I (and our wives) spent at least one weekend together, and we traveled overseas several times. Over such a long time, one friend or the other sometimes hits a rough patch. When it was my turn, Ben was there with acceptance and support. I could not have hoped for a better friend. "I will always be able to picture Ben, sitting on the deck by the sea at his beloved Dunes Club, wearing worn topsiders, eating onion rings, and nursing a Heineken. "Ben was 'old school' in the best sense of the term. He had an understanding and appreciation of tradition, honor, and loyalty. "A final note on tradition, we occasionally played bridge over the years. The game itself has evolved, but Ben’s bidding remained firmly rooted in the 1960’s. It just made him more lovable." From Jim Mays: "I had met Ben three years earlier at St Mark's before we arrived in Princeton for freshman year where we roomed at Pyne Hall with no less than John Heminway and Alan Gray. Ben's easy-going and open manner helped him immensely with developing friends. Ben and I roomed once again in junior year when we joined Colonial Club. Ben was drawn to more logical and mathematical rather than the written word. Ben even claimed he chose Princeton which apparently did not have a language required. (Remember those days when we actually had a choice!) Having tutored him through Latin in earlier years, I concur with his preference. Ben sharpened his bridge playing and made many friends which have been enduring since. His senior year he roomed with Ned Whitman and Duke Lohr." John Heminway continues: "Many of us reconnected at our 60th high school reunion which Ben masterfully organized. He never hinted that his life was anything but sunshine. He laughed at our jokes (some quite lame), he grilled us about our lives (some quite dull), he sidestepped questions about his life’s milestones (nothing, he intimated, matching ours), and when he approached the podium to receive the school's number one class agent award, he wore a look of total stupefaction, as if he were the dupe of some tasteless practical joke. "Ben’s luminous smiles that weekend guarded a terrible secret—that for the last 16 years he had been suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Throughout those two glorious April days, he never breathed a word of this grim life sentence. Perhaps he was of the belief medical updates were in bad taste. Perhaps he and his wife, Jean, had taken a vow of secrecy. I choose to believe Ben kept his confidence because he did not want to spoil our fun. "That, essentially, was Ben McCleary—one of the most thoughtful individuals that I have had the pleasure of knowing. Endowed with a whip-smart quantitative mind, he disguised his many achievements in Vietnam and later in business with shy, Delphic, smiles. For him, such triumphs were mere trifles in the far more compelling narrative of what we truly had learned over seven decades. "For those of us who knew Ben at school and college, and gatherings thereafter, his place in our memory is assured—amusing, kind, dependable and loyal: qualities of true gloss." Ben's Reunion Book Essays50th Reunion
55th Reunion
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