Ben Hull

On June 18, 2022, Ben Hull, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend died as a result of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 86.

Ben was born in 1935, the third of four children, in St. Louis, Missouri to parents Ben and Dorothy (Rosenthal) Hull. He met his future wife, Joyce Coleman, on a blind date in March of 1955 and they were married a short 6 months later, a marriage that lasted almost 67 years.

Looking for an adventure and a better place to live, in 1959 they and two other families (the Bryants and the Coopers) packed up the kids, the cars and caravanned westward on Route 66. This was one of the best decisions they ever made, landing in Santa Barbara – a great place and time to raise a family.

Ben was not afraid of hard work. In fact, he enjoyed it. He took great pride in his work and always made a good job of it. He could design, build and repair anything and he was happy to pass these skills on to anyone who wanted to learn. Ben worked both for others (Applied Magnetics, Dispensers, Honeywell, Heyer-Schulte, PS Medical, Medtronic) and for himself (Southern Deep Well Drilling Company).

Ben and Joyce enjoyed traveling with friends and explored Mexico, Alaska, the northeastern United States, Hawaii, Tahiti, Italy and Greece. They liked water skiing, snow skiing, scuba diving and dearly loved to play golf.

Ben is survived by his wife, Joyce; his daughter, Karen Thompson and her husband, Steve; his grandson Andrew Hull and his wife Darcy, great-grandchildren Ruby and Llewyn; his grandson Oliver Thompson and his wife, Daniela; and his daughter-in-law, Pam Bohn. He is pre-deceased by his son, Bryan Hull. A private graveside service will be held for Ben.

We would like to thank the staff of Villa Alamar Memory Care for the loving care and attention they gave to Ben.

Ben was generous, friendly, fun-loving, knowledgeable and wise. He was a good-hearted man who loved his family and treasured his friends. He will live on in our memories.