BENJAMIN F. HARNISH

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BENJAMIN F. HARNISH 1932 - 2010 On September 1, 2010, after a valiant fight with pancreatic cancer, Ben leaves behind his three sons, Scott, Stephen and Stewart; four grandchildren, Ethan, Nathan, Taite and Victoria; his sister Benita; nieces and nephews, Lynn, Jeff, Lori, Mark, Suzie, Judi and Greg; and his best friend for the last 26 years, Joyce. Ben was born and raised in Belvedere, Illinois. He enrolled in the Architecture program at the University of Illinois, and was later drafted into the Army of the United States. After completion of his military duties, he returned to the University of Illinois to finish his architectural studies. Upon graduation he was immediately placed on the faculty, where he taught architectural engineering, reinforced concrete design, and building design. He furthered his studies in structural analysis and foundation engineering at the University of Illinois' College of Engineering. Ben served at the University of Illinois until 1969 including two years in La Napoule, France as one of three founding faculty members at the University of Illinois satellite overseas campus. During his stay in France, he was seconded to Oxford University in England to lead a special projects problem for the third year students there. After his return to North America, he relocated to Winnipeg and the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba until his retirement in 1992. He always recalled the many sketch camps he directed where he taught and demonstrated watercolour painting techniques, and the Architectural field trips he conducted to Chicago were always fondly remembered by Ben and his students. Ben was heavily involved with umpiring baseball, fastball and slo-pitch, encompassing 36 years behind the plate in Manitoba. He refereed basketball for more than 20 years, and was a prominent official in wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. In 1984, he refereed internationally for the first time at the Paralympic Games in Stoke-Mandeville, England, and was voted by the other tournament officials to referee the World Cup Game. He was also noted for having authored the original rule book for wheelchair rugby, which forms the basis of the sport's international rule book today, and was honoured by being inducted into the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at Glen Lawn Funeral Home, 455 Lagimodiere Blvd. (south of the Royal Canadian Mint). A private family interment will follow at Glen Lawn Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Manitoba Wheelchair Sport Association or the charity of your choice would be much appreciated. GLEN LAWN FUNERAL HOME 982-7550

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 04, 2010