BEA & BENNY

Cards may be sent to the Lingle family at: The obituary will eventually appear here. CLICK

PO Box 357 Skagway, Alaska 99840

It is with a heavy heart that we note the passing of Benny Lingle.  He and Bea were such an integral part of our Village. Things just didn't seem to get underway until their Fall arrival. Now we will have to function without Benny's presence, the twinkle in his eye and the smile on his face. May he rest in peace.
                                --Mary

We first met this lively exuberant couple in
December 1995. It was our first experience at
attending a VAW Christmas party, and we were
seated at Bea and Benny's table. Being the new
kids on the block, we did not know how privileged
we were to be seated at such a place of honor.
Introductions were made around, and a rambunctious, hilarious evening began. "What did you do today Benny?" a table mate asked.
"Well, I went over to Falcon Field for a while, and petted the airplanes a little," Benny answered. Dumb me, I asked Bea, "Does Benny really like airplanes?"
"He must" she said, " he owns several of them." We could readily see that this was going to be a fun
evening, with Bea and Benny sharing their many
interesting and funny experiences. "How did you
two meet?" I questioned. "you had to ask,' replied
Bea grinning from ear to ear. "Well, Benny needed a baby sitter for his little girl, and
so he brought her over to me, and I treated her just
the same as my own kids. Benny would be gone out
of town for a week at a time, so Robin became part
of our family. Then one day when Benny came to
pick up Robin, he asked me, 'Ya wanna get married?'
I was flabbergasted. We hadn't even been out on a date .
" But get married they did, and have been married for
a good long time.
"What do you do for entertainment up there in Alaska?" someone asked.
With a straight face Benny replied, "Oh, we go down to the Hardware
Store and try on gloves. and sometimes we go to the Bars."
"Yes, and did you know?" Bea informed, "Benny oftentimes drinks doubles, and thinks single?"
We can believe it.

We know Benny likes the girls. We have

personally experienced some of his big bear hugs.

I can recall one Saturday morning after Coffee when
Bea announced,"Does anyone want to go sailing?"
I did not know then, of her Saturday excursions to every
Garage Sale in the Valley. But she drove her fancy little
convertible all over the place, and got more attention
from it than any of the Garage Sale items she may have
purchased, and if she looked at all the wares for sale but
didn't buy anything, she would smile and apologize to the
person in charge, saying,"I'm sorry I didn't buy anything today.
Maybe next week." It was quite a festive occasion the day
Benny bought his golf cart. He could be seen tooling around
in it most every day. We are told, though we can't swear
to this, that at first, Benny had trouble remembering to drive
it home from the golf course after the 19th. hole.

Bea is my kind of gal when it comes to costume parties.
She loves them as much as I do. There are some wonderful
pictures of her and Benny in some exotic costumes.
Often times the costume parties were in
conjunction with a pot luck. Bea would tell us,
"I will bring whatever you want me to bring as long as the
recipe has no more than threeingredients."
The place just isn't the same without our dear friends,
Bea and Benny.
May God bless them as they go through this stage of their lives.
They are in our thoughts and prayers until we meet again.