10/14/2003
Funeral services for Bennie Wallace Harvey, 66, of Pleasantville, who died Tuesday,
Oct. 14, 2003, at the Comfort House Hospice in Pella, was held Friday, Oct. 17,
at the Christian Church in Pleasantville. Rev. Walt Claussen officiated at the services.
Elizabeth Murphy was the soloist.
Interment was at Graceland Cemetery in Knoxville.
Casketbearers were Jesse Pettyjohn, Richard Mesecher, David DeForest, Steve Karr,
Fred Van Ryswyk, and Boyd Refshaw. Honorary bearers were Cy Cox, Larry Hodges, Bob
Mix, Calvin Smith, Norm Milledge, and Bob Samuelson.
Ben was born on August 13,
1937, in Knoxville, the son of Wesley R. and Jessie L. (Heaberlin) Harvey. He graduated
from Knoxville High School in 1956 and worked in his father's coal mine for a couple
of years after high school. He then became an officer at the Knoxville Police Department.
In 1962 he moved to Pleasantville.
He learned floor covering installation while
employed at McGraw Decorating in Knoxville and later ran Wilder Linden Bros. Floor
Covering, then eventually his own store, Floors by Ben. He was known in the floor
covering industry as a master craftsman. For several years during his floor covering
career, he was an instructor of floor installation at the Des Moines Area Community
College in Ankeny. In 1983 he did what a lot of men dream of doing.
He bought a
resort in Canada and spent the next ten years going there in the early spring and
returning in the fall. Fishing, hunting and playing cards were the love of his life.
He really enjoyed entertaining his resort guests, watching them catch fish, shoot
bears, or just beating them in a game of cards.
He also enjoyed cooking fish with-his
secret batter and telling the rules if you find a bone (Ben swore women smuggled
bones into camp). Ben enjoyed driving the school bus. He loved all the kids and
they loved him.
His favorite Christmas gift was a sweatshirt given to him by the
kids on the bus that was inscribed " Ben's Bus is Best." Ben was an avid sports fan.
He spent years coaching his son, Curt's, Little League teams and helped them go
to state playoffs. Any sport, no matter whether it was football, baseball, or basketball,
he watched all.
He loved watching his grandsons, Chris and Zach, ready to
help with practice and coaching. He loved the Iowa Hawkeyes and enjoyed going to
games with his son and his family. He was very proud of being a grandfather. He
was a former J.C.'s past president and a member of the Masonic Lodge.
He was preceded
in death by his parents. He is survived by his son, Curt Harvey and wife Mary; grandsons,
Chris and Zach; and his companion and caregiver, Jodi Wahl all of Pleasantville;
Jodi's daughters, Kim Demro and Kris Gan- and grandchildren, Chad, Evan, and Ethan
Gan and Lindsey Demro and Lauren and Blake Vrem; his sister and her husband, Frieda
and Leland Karr of Knoxville and three brothers and their wives, Sonny and Pat Harvey
of Pleasantville, Melvin and Teresa Harvey of Dubuque and Bob and Bobbi Harvey of Renwick.
Arrangements were made by Bybee & Davis Funeral Home.