Ben L. Shoufler

Revois (Ben) Shoufler Died April 3, 2012 from complications of Lewy Body Dementia with his family by his side. Ben was born May 15, 1937 in Moline, Illinois to Doris and Revois Benbrook. His dad was killed in a car accident in 1939 and his mom remarried in 1941 to Larry Shoufler. Ben and his brother Bill were adopted by Larry and became Shouflers. He grew up in Long Beach, California and graduated from Jordon High in 1956. After a year of "playing at going to college" he drove to Miami, FL for a new adventure. He worked at various jobs that barely kept him fed. Living in his car, searching for parking meters that were out of order to park his car and surviving on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So he joined the Navy and got a free trip back to California for boot camp in San Diego. While in the Navy, he met Pat and they were married in 1961. After his discharge, he attended college and graduated with a BS degree in Industrial engineering. He worked at U.S. Steel in Pittsburg, CA until 1971. He then moved to Portland, OR where he bought a U-Haul concrete company and eventually moved his family to Sutherlin and bought Sutherlin True Value Hardware. He and Pat had the store for 19 years and retired in 1994. They traveled across the United States three times in their motorhome visiting family and friends, took cruises to Mexico and Hawaii, visited Jamaica and Italy. Ben and Pat celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August of 2011. Ben's love for snowmobiling took him on many trips and interesting situations of getting stuck and dumping grandkids in the snow. In later years, he took up golf and belonged to the Sutherlin golf club and golfed as much as possible and was even lucky enough to get a hole-in-one on Hole 13 in Sutherlin. He was an active member of the Sutherlin Lions since 1975, Timber Days Chairman for many years, attended Calapooia Free Methodist Church, was instrumental in construction of the Visitors Center, Sutherlin Food Pantry, Lions Building, Timber Days Pavilion, Central Park Pavilion, Central Park Basketball Court and restoration of the train caboose in Central Park. He is survived by his wife, Pat; daughter, Rhonda Shoufler of Bakersfied; son, Ray Shoufler of Roseburg; four grandchildren: Kaitlyn, Courtney and Kyle Sturm, Cody Hawks and wife Kara and great-granddaughter Sierra; brother, Bill Shoufler and wife Kathy of South Bend, Indiana and numerous nieces and nephews. A celebration of life service will be held April 15, 2012 at 2 p.m. at the Calapooia Free Methodist Church at 333 Church Rd., Sutherlin. The family thanks Chantele's Loving Touch care facility for the wonderful loving care that he received from them. The CNAs that took care of Ben were his special angels to him. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Sutherlin Lions Club, P.O. Box 973, Sutherlin, OR 97479.