From Peter Folger, the following sad news:
Ben Minnich passed away at home in Perris, CA this morning (Wednesday 3/23/05). He had been in the hospital after suffering yet another stroke. There are no immediate plans for services and a Memorial Service at the Seashore Trolley Museum this spring is a possibility. Ben was (most likely) instrumental in the preservation of more street railway vehicles than any other individual. Ben led and active and interesting life, having graduated from Harvard in 1951, where he started what is now the Hillbilly at Harvard radio program. He became active in the management of the then fledgling Seashore Trolley Museum. Later on Ben moved to the west coast and was active at the Orange Empire Railway Museum. He also owned and managed the Perris Progress newspaper for many years. Ben was a pilot and was interested in sky diving. He was quite capable of keeping one enraptured by his interesting stories for many hours. One of Ben’s favorite pastimes was “Chicken Coopingâ€

Ben's background as a newspaper man clearly showed in his writing. His "Last Roundup" stories in both the Orange Empire Gazette and the Seashore Dispatch are some of the best historic preservation articles I have ever seen.

I never met him; but he left a legacy of traction hardware and cars that will only be fully appreciated later in the 21st century.

Ted Miles

Dwight Benton "Ben" Minnich was one of the more dedicated practictioners of electric railway preservation. While many of us know Ben as the man who nearly always was wearing bid-overalls and a hard hat, but that is not the complete picture.

I have been around OERM for more than 35 years and I recall talking with Ben and others who knew him. Ben, I was told, came from a proper, well-to-do Minneapolis-St. Paul family. He attended Harvard and in the 1970s I recall being told that he served as a regional interviewer of Harvard applicants. There was more to Ben than what we saw.

Here is a more detailed obituary for Ben. Thanks to Peter Folger for passing this along.

Obituary - Ben Minnich

(with thanks to the Minnich family for sending this along PF)

Dwight Benton (Ben) Minnich, a newspaper publisher, railway enthusiast, Perris City councilman, iconoclastic editorial columnist - whose weekly observations enlivened the "Perris Progress" op-ed pages for over 15 years - has died.

Minnich died March 23 at his home in Perris from complications of diabetes. Born in Minneapolis, MN, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a communications instructor in Wisconsin, and an aircraft radio inspector in Palm Springs, CA

He began his studies at the University of Minnesota then transferred to Harvard in Cambridge, MA, and completed his degrees in paleontology and anthropology, graduating in 1951. While at Harvard, he launched "Hillbilly at Harvard," a country-western radio program that continues to this day on the school's radio station, WHRB. He also became involved with the New England Electric Railway Historical Society in Kennebunkport, ME. His early childhood fascination with streetcars led to a lifelong effort to preserve historic trolleys that spanned continents. After graduation, he again served his country during the Korean War as a Lieutenant in northern Alaska.

In 1958, while working in electronics for Litton Industries in California, the newly established Orange Empire Trolley Museum sought his expertise and enlisted him as a consultant. Located in Perris, his work at the museum led him to first purchase the local weekly newspaper, then settle there permanently in 1960.

As he became more involved in the community, he ran for and won a seat on the Perris City Council, and later served on the Perris School District Board. While serving the city, he helped to increase its area fivefold and encouraged the first installation of fluorescent street lights in southern California. It also gave him a unique vantage point from which to expound his views in his weekly editorial column, "Now That You Mention It." The breadth and depth of the topics he explored and his unique brand of commentary earned him both praise as a clear thinking pragmatist and excoriation as a godless maverick. Interest was so widespread that many subscriptions came from out-of-state readers who often had spent little or no time in the city of Perris.

In the early 1980's, he sold the "Perris Progress" to John and Irene Hoban, and devoted his remaining years to his favorite past time, researching and acquiring those forgotten relics of a golden age in transportation, the trolley car. Often he would locate a specimen that had been converted into some other use than it was originally intended, his favorite incarnation being the streetcar as a "chicken coop."

He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Ida Mae; two sons, Harvey and Roland of Perris; one grandson, Alexander of New Zealand; and two granddaughters, Alina and Alexandra of Murrieta. He also has a brother, Conrad, who lives in Ohio. Mr. Minnich's remains have been cremated, and the family will hold a memorial in May.