TRIBUTE TO AN AAF FOUNDING FATHER
Ben C. Dowell
10/29/1924 - 12/14/2010
Ben C. Dowell 86 of Palm Harbor passed away December 14, 2010 at Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital, Tarpon Springs.
My recollections of Ben Dowell go back to about 1977 when I first
became involved in the Board of Directors of the Aluminum Association
of Florida. Ben was Treasurer and I was a new Board member. Back
then, the Pinellas Chapter was the entire Association and we had a
few members from Tampa. We met at the Holiday Inn on US 19.
It was pretty normal for a few of the Directors and Officers to gather
in the bar after the meetings and hoist a few while they swapped
stories about the aluminum business.
Being fairly new to the business, I found that I could learn a lot from
the “old guys” like Sid Silverstein, Dennis Henegar, and Ben Dowell.
All three of these men became my mentors --- especially Ben, with
whom I had regular conversations about the aluminum business and
pretty much everything in life. We even shared some “war stories”,
though we had served in different wars.
Ben spoke softly in meetings, but when he spoke, he made sense and
everyone listened. He was always able to apply common sense to
divisive issues, and for that he was highly respected. He was a major
influence on the early years of the Aluminum Association.
At one time or another, Ben served the Association in nearly every office.
He was always willing to do more than his part. He spent time working
on at least half of all of the standing committees and even chaired a few.
While preparing to write this, I looked through several old photographs
from AAF events. Many showed Ben and his wife, Jo, both smiling,
often dancing, and always the life of the party.
Ben Dowell will be missed.
Charlie Grof
10/29/1924 - 12/14/2010
Ben C. Dowell 86 of Palm Harbor passed away December 14, 2010 at Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital, Tarpon Springs.
My recollections of Ben Dowell go back to about 1977 when I first
became involved in the Board of Directors of the Aluminum Association
of Florida. Ben was Treasurer and I was a new Board member. Back
then, the Pinellas Chapter was the entire Association and we had a
few members from Tampa. We met at the Holiday Inn on US 19.
It was pretty normal for a few of the Directors and Officers to gather
in the bar after the meetings and hoist a few while they swapped
stories about the aluminum business.
Being fairly new to the business, I found that I could learn a lot from
the “old guys” like Sid Silverstein, Dennis Henegar, and Ben Dowell.
All three of these men became my mentors --- especially Ben, with
whom I had regular conversations about the aluminum business and
pretty much everything in life. We even shared some “war stories”,
though we had served in different wars.
Ben spoke softly in meetings, but when he spoke, he made sense and
everyone listened. He was always able to apply common sense to
divisive issues, and for that he was highly respected. He was a major
influence on the early years of the Aluminum Association.
At one time or another, Ben served the Association in nearly every office.
He was always willing to do more than his part. He spent time working
on at least half of all of the standing committees and even chaired a few.
While preparing to write this, I looked through several old photographs
from AAF events. Many showed Ben and his wife, Jo, both smiling,
often dancing, and always the life of the party.
Ben Dowell will be missed.
Charlie Grof