I first met Ben Fernandez thirty years ago, and he was already a trivia legend. Over the years my respect for him grew, so with his passing on December 19th I’d like to show you that everyone felt the same way about him, both as a competitor and as a person.
Ben was born in Emeryville, and he and his Oakland-born wife, Donna, were married for about 60 years. They were devoted parents to their three daughters.
They lived for decades in Pleasanton, where Ben excelled in his insurance career. He was involved in local fundraisers and worked on a variety of committees for the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce. He cared very much for the city, championing its growth and supporting its local politicians.
Ben’s phenomenal memory for both film and sports trivia made him a deadly one-two competitor in local and national competitions. Starting in the 1970s, Ben and his cohorts founded friendly trivia matches in Oakland that continue once a month to this day. He competed in the national Boulder, Colorado tournament, and was a frequent Bay Area radio guest. Here are some comments from those who played with and against him:
“We all want to be held in high esteem by our colleagues. Ben was.”
“He was a legend in every way—a local sports historian and one of the greatest of the greatest generation. I am heartbroken that I won’t hear him come up with the best trivia answer of the night.”
“I was impressed by Ben’s sportsmanship and overall friendliness. He was a true gentleman.”
“I first met Ben when I did a story on the King’s X trivia night for The Oakland Tribune in 1984. He made me feel welcome and brought me into the group. I’ll never forget that; there are so many stories. I’ll never forget his knowledge and his ready laughter.”
“As the Godfather of Trivia for the Bay Area, I was always impressed and moved not only by Ben’s incredible range of knowledge and love of all things that enrich our lives in sports, entertainment, and other diversions from our work, but also his generosity and calmness that kept the rest of us in line. He was truly one of the top class-acts of a person I have encountered in my lifetime and I am sure in all of your lifetimes. Here’s to a life truly well lived.”
“I’m very sorry to hear of Ben’s passing. He was the cornerstone of the King’s X trivia group when I started in 1982, and remained so for almost all of the 36 years since. He had that natural way of being open and friendly, and needless to say, he also had that killer combination of being equally good at answering both movie and sports questions—the toughest combination to beat—something I remember because I came out on the losing end against that ability many times. But win or lose, he was a welcoming, genial guy, and he will be much missed.”
Those thoughts very much sum up my feelings about Ben, too. I am honored to attempt to fill his shoes for this magazine with fun trivia questions. I’ll definitely draw on his style, since Ben set the standard. Thank you, Ben.
A Personal Remembrance from Joe Redmond
When asked to say a few words about the passing of my friend Ben (Fernandez) for Alive Magazine, I didn’t hesitate and immediately said, “Sure , I can do that easily.” But with the January issue deadline already past due, I suddenly realized that to do justice to that task was almost impossible, especially with the clock ticking. So, I’ll simply say that Ben meant the world to me, as he did to countless folks in the Bay Area. Ben, who was the youngest 87-year-old I’ve ever known, was so many things to so many, I can only mention how it’s affected me.
Ben was the first person I met socially when I arrived in California from Chicago in the Fall of 1979. And that was at the Kings X in Oakland where monthly Trivia matches were held. I walked into the sports bar one Tuesday evening for the first time and Ben made a very lonesome stranger feel not only at home, but like I had friends right away… and many of those I met have become my close friends for 40 years.
Ben was the wittiest, smartest and most interesting man I’ve ever known and I was constantly amazed on how the consummate insurance executive was so expert at general knowledge of sports and entertainment that he could have had a successful career in all those fields. He was so good that he was often invited to San Francisco radio programs to offer color and opinions on air. He was the only person in my world that was a member of The American Film Institute (AFI) and he was asked to speak at events in the Bay Area for decades.
Ben’s greatest joy was his family and he spent the last few decades traveling the world with his wife, of over 60 years and being the best grandfather a man could be.
I’ve so many memories of Ben; I couldn’t nor have the time to reflect on them at this moment, but do have a day I’ll always remember. He once called me and asked me if I’d like to join him on a short trip to Palo Alto to take part in a film retrospective of Billy Wilder, the famous film director. (They were playing a full month of his pictures at the Stanford Theatre). We spent a Saturday afternoon watching Some Like it Hot and The Apartment, where we attended a reception afterward and socialized with the guests of honor, Billy Wilder, himself and Jack Lemmon. For a movie buff like myself, I was in 7th Heaven. Thanks, Ben.
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