Benjamin B. "Ben" Brubaker

Benjamin B. Brubaker, 87, of Manheim died peacefully, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Pleasant View Communities, Manheim. Born in Mt. Joy on March 31, 1936, he was the son of the late Jonas E. and Naomi S. Brubaker. He was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Bertha W. Brubaker.

In his early 20s, Ben spent 2 ½ years in volunteer service with the PAX program under MCC, doing construction in Germany, Algeria, Morocco, and France. Those 2 ½ years encouraged a life of generosity of his time and finances and a desire to serve Jesus by helping others.  Ben and Bertha spent many hours helping others, family, and friends, and enjoyed this aspect of their marriage. In 1968, they purchased their 1495 Lebanon Rd property and worked together to restore the house, barn, make a pond with a little cottage and many other upgrades. They lived there for over 50 years.

Ben enjoyed hard work and his various jobs throughout his life - farming with his family, construction, custom hay baling, Mt. Joy millworks, and finally a general contractor for his business, "Brubaker Builders". In his retirement, Ben and Bertha created "Echoes From The Past" through which they provided salvage and antique building materials to those restoring old buildings to their former glory.  This also satisfied their love of and passion for preserving the past. One of Ben's favorite community service projects was teaching woodworking to the many Manheim 4H students who came to his shop to learn the art.  Ben faithfully donated to the blood bank, donating well over 9 gallons of blood over the years. Ben had many hobbies and loved the outdoors, hunting deer and big game, fishing, flower and vegetable gardening, music and lending his bass voice to many singing groups.

Ben is survived by his sister, Ruth (William) Yovanovich and many nieces and nephews.

Ben was preceded in death by 4 siblings, Elizabeth Brubaker, Jonas Brubaker Jr., Martin (Arlene) Brubaker, and Naomi (Robert) Rowe.

            A Memorial Service for Ben will take place at the Buch Funeral Home, 21 Market Square, Manheim on Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 10:30 AM. Friends may visit with the family from 10:00 AM until the time of service. In lieu of flowers, those desiring may send contributions in Ben’s memory to Gideon’s International, P.O. Box 97251, Washington, DC 20090.