While feeling great sadness and severe loss, I am sorry to write that one our Campfire's best fellows, Ben Brown (mudhen) passed away this morning after hospitalization for a sudden health crisis. Our hearts go out to his lovely wife Crystal, daughter Donelle, grandchildren Jace and Jocelyn - all of whom we have met and much enjoyed in connection with our SW Campfire gatherings - and also to others of Ben's family and wide circle of friends.

Ben has been a gentle, soft-spoken, deeply learned and wise influence in so many of our endeavors and interactions, and sorely we will miss his generous spirit, his sharing of broad experience and the constancy of his big heart. For certain, others here who have shared time and experiences with Ben will amplify his goodness.

Maddy and I left Las Cruces early this AM, headed home on the last brief leg of a two-week journey through the midwest and, as we passed the exit on I10 that leads to Animas, NM, I thought about Ben and Crystal quite a bit and vowed that soon we would take a drive to the Chiricahuas and to visit them. Little did we know.

So sorry.
PDW

RIP fella, we will miss you.

Only knew him from his posts. Struck me as a good man.

Sad to hear this for he was one of the great ones.

Always ready to help.

Prayers sent for the family.

RIP.

Always enjoyed his posts.

DF

CCCC, you get the chance, please let the family know mudhen had 50,000 more friends than they knew about.

RIP , mudhen, you will be missed.

Sorry to hear this, condolences to his family.

Damn....

Just damn...

We had just exchanged PMs a bit ago, like we had been for 10+ years.

RIP Ben and regards for family....

Godspeed, Ben Brown.

Enjoyed his posts as well...always alot to share. RIP.

RIP mudhen........... he will be missed, one of the best men on the 'fire.

Ben was a great man, condolences to Crystal and Donelle from myself and Cheryl, we really appreciated seeing Ben, Donelle and Jace less than 2 months ago. Donelle is a member here and knows many of us who call Ben a friend.

A tough loss for sure.

Kent

RIP Ben.

Godspeed!

No!

Good luck to his family.

The value of a life is measured in terms of how much of it was given away. Sounds like he exemplified that.

Godspeed, Mudhen. May the Good Lord wrap his arms around you and keep you. May He give comfort to your family in their time of mourning. I surely enjoyed your participation at the fire.

Damn we had a lot of back forth on here and FB about different topics revolving around texas wildlife and stuff, it's a sad day

I am glad to have known Ben, even if for only a short time. He was a very fine man and it saddens me to know I will never see him again.

Godspeed, Ben.

Dam Hate to read this ! God Speed, will miss your posts!

I'll miss seeing the coot avatar.


Godspeed.

Well poop.

I'll have to meet mudhen Ben "around the bend" someday in the next time, not in this one.

I will certainly miss his posts with links to articles biological and border (sometimes combined) related.

Goodbye Ben.

Ben was a great man and brilliant & thoughtful mind. I feel l honored to call him a close friend and mentor. I'm torn up by this deal; I've been closer to Ben in the last decade than any blood save my father. He also had another wonderful daughter named Margaret who didn't come to the campfire events, but I had the honor of meeting on when I was in San Antonio working for a few months. We had a wonderful meal prepared by Donelle that consisted of chicken fried elk backstrap that Ben's grandson Jace had taken.

I really wish I knew how to post a photo on here. I have a great photo of a few hunts we shared together nearly a decade ago.

-Jon

Prayers for his family.

It's going to be a great time in Heaven folks!

This is his Fb page, https://www.facebook.com/bennett.brown.5

🙏🙏🙏 R. I. P.

His wife is an amazing artist, He would share Her paintings on FB going to miss that.

Sorry to hear this R.I.P. Ben god bless his family.

Sorry to hear this...may Ben rest in peace.

Certainly to be missed by anyone having read some of his posts. RIP Ben (mudhen)! memtb

you guys were really tight, it's always good to see that type of relationship between generations.

Kent

I just heard the news from Donelle. What a loss to us.

Ben was one of the finest men I've ever known and am honored to have met him and shared time with him.

May he rest in peace.

My prayers go out for his family.

Ed

Ben was a hell of a hunter and shooter, didn't let age slow him down.

best... or worst... Ben Brown story...


THOMASMAGNUM, my good friend and member here who passed last year... Tom had a contender, in 4570. I dared Ben to shoot it and he said ok... no,no I'm joking don't shoot it. He took it from Tom, aimed and fired.

it came back and broke his shooting glasses and cut his nose bad. I felt like chit and so did Tom.

he shook it off and didn't bitch... ever after he loved us telling the story, laughing about it... one tough hombre.

Kent

Prayers for his family. From his posts you could tell he was a great man.

R.I.P. Ben,Judy and I will miss so much!

just dang.....

Damn, Ben was a good man, one of the good guys here that's for sure.

RIP Mudhen, you will be missed.

OH ! That HURTS ! So Sorry.

We need more gooduns not less.

Condolences to Family and Friends.


Jerry

This saddens the heart. He posted on the coues forum too and was always a helpful gentleman.

Sorry to hear this news. Prayers on the way

So sorry to hear this, he will be missed, wish I had met him in person. Rest In Peace Ben.

as i remember, that contender went flying over his head. I first met Ben years ago at a quemato gathering, first class gentleman, heck of a sportsman, and had one real first class life. I am sorry to see him go.

Am at a lose for words. Heaven awaits you BEN. Rio7

May God rest his soul and comfort his family and friends.
One on one time with Ben was always a highlight at NM and AZ gatherings.
It was an honor to have met him and spent time with at the gatherings and he will truly be missed!

hate to hear that, we always conversed well on here. He will be missed.

Sad to hear. Condolences to his family.

Rest In Peace Brother Mudhen.

That's very sad news. RIP.

I passed the news on to Randy (Oldman03)... He's here helping me for awhile, and didn't bring his computer.

He expressed his condolences as well.

very sorry to hear this news. RIP, Ben.

Damn. Just damn.
Godspeed, Ben.

Very sorry to hear this, RIP.

Sad news, I always enjoyed his post. Prayers for friends and family.

RIP, Ben.

I was very much saddened when I read this. He was a fine man.

Sad news indeed Paul. Damn.

Solid conservative guy.
RIP Sir.

Hated to hear this....he was one of the good guys for sure, and extended me kindness more than once.

Dammit, a good guy. Always enjoyed his post. I could ask dumb questions about his area & he delivered informative & non condescending answers, always.

I'll miss you sir.

Rest in peace,sir.

CCCC;
Thanks for posting the sad news sir, I just learned myself.

While we only exchanged a few PM's over the years I always appreciated his knowledge and the manner in which he conveyed it.

If anyone reading this is able to, please pass along sincere condolences.

My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family left behind.

Dwayne

Im tired of death. Wish his family well.

Sorry for the passing of a good man. May he rest in peace.

Paul

That is a shame. He was a very smart man, knew a lot about wildlife and biology. We pm'ed a bit. We had worked for the same employer for a time, but not at same time, we knew a few people in common though.

If Mudhen posted something, you could take it to the bank.

I had a chat with Mudhen via PM several weeks ago about pelicans and how they may communicate when food is spotted.

As always, Ben was full of information and happy to share it.

A good man for sure, who I will miss.

Condolences to his family.

😎

I had Ben as a graduate teaching assistant when I was an undergrad in Wildlife Science at TAMU. A very kind and gentle man. I have seen him a few times over the years as we went our separate ways. We joked about both the Prof who taught the course (Jim Teer) and how Ben didn't know a whole lot more about the subject matter (population dynamics) at that point than we did. He sure did fake it well though.
I'll miss his PM's about stuff, the latest being the new theory of tick fever from Texas cows killing huge numbers of buffalo. We both agreed that it was more than plausible.

God's speed Ben. Prayer's and best wishes for the family.

Another good one gone. Prayers for the family. Rip Sir.
Kelly

You can tell alot about someone here on how they conduct themselves in life.Having never met,but you can tell from his posting he was a fine man.
Thoughts and prayers go out to his family,

Damned shame.

Thanks for the heads-up, (C)^4.

I’m tipping a Woodford in his memory.

FC

Just saw him at the July gathering. Yeah, he was o good one.

This makes my heart heavy. I valued him as a 'fire member. My prayers go out to his loved ones.

Very sorry to hear this; RIP mudhen & prayers for his widow & family!

Oh goodness this is saddening. RIP

Did he not just post here within the last week or so?

Godspeed.

Oh damn, Mudhen was the genuine article.

One of them guys you don’t expect to be gone.

A sad loss, RIP

Here are a few pictures of Mudhen that jmgraham1986 wanted posted.

Thanks 123444,

Nice to get a visual on the man.

Very sad. Condolences to his family and friends.

Whoa. Full Stop.

RIP.

With sadness, just recollecting here but the first time I met Ben was at Cabela's in Buda a number of years ago. I (with my youngest son Tony ~14 then, 22 now) was heading there to meet with Karnis to buy a Ruger 22/45 from him. I threw the upcoming visit here on the forum and Bob from New Hampshire responded that he was visiting his son in College Station (I think, maybe UT) and he, his wife, son, pregnant DIL could make it. Ben happened to be in San Antonio and agreed he could make it. So there I was with some of the 'fire's finest having lunch in Cabelas. Years later I was in camp twice with Ben on the Tonto trips. A really great man.

I'm sorry to read this.

May he rest in peace and may God give his family strength to deal with this.

Dammit.

What happened?

Rest in peace Ben. We will miss you around the campfire. May God Bless his family and friends.

Bob

Ben is a good man. Well respected as a man and a friend because he earned it.

I knew him through his posts. We definitely lost a very good one. Such a shame to see any of our members pass, but it hits so much harder when it's one you know in your heart was a good man. Rest in Peace Mudhen. We'll all be catching up with you one of these days, sir.

That's terrible news.

I really liked Ben! I learned a lot from his posts and PMs and will really miss him.

We lose the good ones and the āssholes persist.

It ain’t fair.



P

Apparently he was admitted to the hospital a couple days ago with pneumonia ,tested negative for Covid....all I know...

I very much enjoyed reading his posts. His gentle way of writing exuded many years of wisdom without the snark. His avatar and screen name were sort of a metaphor for his sage advice. A fine man indeed.

We'll miss you and Godspeed sir.

Wow... he was a nice guy. RIP mudhen..

RIP

Thanks, Jon, for those photos - it has been good to see Ben again as we feel the loss. That one photo with snow was taken at our place up in the NM high country when Ben and Jon were doing their best to assure a good elk hunt for an old pal of Ben who had limited mobility at the time - typical gesture for those guys.

For those who have inquired about what happened to cause Ben's death, I know only some basics. When Ben and Crystal visited with us for an afternoon earlier this Summer, Ben mentioned that sleep apnea was bothering him quite a bit and he was seeking a medical procedure to deal with that. Since then my wife and I have been addressing health concerns of two in our family and also traveling for that purpose, and I had not talked with Ben since the Campfire gathering up on the Rim - but understand that those sleep apnea problems continued and led to increasing congestion in his lungs.

This developed into pneumonia and on Thursday of this week Ben was admitted to hospital in Las Cruces for treatment. At first he showed some improvement but, very early on Friday, began losing ground. Ben had declined any extraordinary life-saving treatment and was not able to beat the pneumonia on his own. His lovely daughter Donelle has shared with me that no formal service is planned. I hope this helps.

Terrible tragedy for the fire and his family. Prayers for them. Rip Ben.

RIP

RIP mudhen.

Oh my. Very sorry to hear. He was definitely one of the good guys.

Good man.

Will miss his contributions.

Very sad to hear this.

He was a class act!

John

Thanks for the notice Paul.... Glad I got to see Ben one more time in Arizona this summer at a smaller campfire Get Together..

Have gotten to know him real well, seeing him almost every summer via the Quemado Crowd..

For some reason I had a feeling this was the last time I'd get to spend time with Ben.. I made the most of it in my own way..
I greatly learned to respect and honor the man greatly...

Is normal for me NOT to be able to shed a tear, but I admit I've got more than one or two in my eye tonight...

Ben, don't have to guess of where you are now.. Give my regards to our beloved Lord God...

and Thank you for the time you spent with me, the friendship you gave me, and the wisdom you shared...
heck, thank you for sharing a "nice job" on some of the guns I put together and showed to you...

you will definitely be missed my friend... Prayers and blessings to you and your loved ones on their loss...

May God watch over each and every one of them...

thanks for every thing Ben! it was an honor to know you sir...

Condolences

Read through this whole thread, and most everything has been said.
Ben will be missed by a whole lot of us here, and elsewhere, I expect. He was a very fine man, and I am better for having known Him and His family. RIP Ben. Miles

RIP Mudhen, a nice Gentleman he was.

Will miss Mr Ben. My heart goes out to the family. Will keep yall in our prayers.

Rest in peace sir. The number of post alone is a wonderful testimony to his character. Condolences to the family.

never talked to him....never pm him......but the quote above probably tells one all you need to know about his character.....RIP.....bob

Thanks to ElkHunterNM for the text and to Paul/CCCC for the posting here.

Ben was a fine gentleman and a true amigo who was steady and helpful in every way. My wife and I were fortunate to have known him personally from Quemado and Sierra Vista gatherings. He was a man of deep knowledge and experience who could have an engaging conversation on so many topics. I trusted his judgment and treasure the memories of our visits.

Mudhen's life was one of honor and respect, quiet strength and understated brilliance. We are diminished by his passing.

May God bless his soul while welcoming his arrival and may He comfort Ben's family in their grief.

So sad... RIP.

Amen to that Sir.

Jim

Indeed.

Jim (Border Doc) expressed it very well.

Ben was a gentle man in the finest sense of the word.

Joy and I send condolences to all his wonderful family.

You are already missed, friend.

Is there a published obit. for Ben?

RIP Mudhen!

The world is a lesser place. Thoughts and prayers from Iowa for those close to him.

It pains me that of us five in this picture only two are left, myself and Ron... Greg (crossfireopps) far left, Ben (mudhen) standing in the bed, and Tom (THOMASMAGNUM) far right, have left us in the last couple years.

Kent

regarding that comment. i had been having back problems for some time, a disc pressing on the spinal cord.
I didn't have it taken care of right away, and towards the end of july after having the fire department called twice to get me off the floor ended up in the hospital. son in law was told another day of so i would have been paralized from neck down or dead. i had three heart attacks right after the surgery,
i was totally dislusional by that point, but the surgery worked, ended up in a rehab facility for a month.
just saw the bone guy today sd doing well but a year of pos op physical therapy, quite my job, and full time p.t. every day now.
i am semi out of the chair into a walker.
point is kent, you came close to being the only one. i had these guys on my mine a lot these days, but never suspected ben would fall. I am for sure gonna miss him.

RIP.

Ron, sorry to learn that you have gone through both the spine and heart problems - been watching for you on the Fire and now understand why you have been otherwise occupied. I hope you are getting better by the day and will join in the SW gang fun again sometime soon. We miss you.

As for that photo, I remember the SW gang being down at Greg's place for our first two winter gatherings and we were out at the range east of SV when we took those photos. That may have been the time that Ken Howell's daughter visited for a while at the range.

A lot of great shooting was happening down there on the high desert, and some fine moments at the 'lurk" around that inventive fire pit.

Would someone that knew Ben want to enter his name in the campfire obituary? RIP sir.


https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...32083/rest-in-peace-brothers#Post8732083

I have done so.
P

Just did the same. RIP Ben.....

Sorry to hear this. My condolences.

Sorry to hear of the passing of one of the many "good guys" here. R.I.P.

RIP.

Thanks for posting that photo of you and Ron, and the late members of the fire. It is always interesting to me to see what folks look life in real life.

Condolences to mudhen's family.

Ron, truly sorry here to learn of your physical woes.

Wishing you a strong recovery.

I think as we get older we realize how short life really is, gotta treasure every moment.

RIP Mudhen,

I appreciate the answers you gave me on certain matters & I'll miss your post.