Benjamin S. Blades

BENJAMIN SETH BLADES Benjamin Seth Blades of Cottage City, MD, passed away unexpectedly at age 45 on Friday, April 28, 2017. Born on June 30, 1971, Ben grew up in Heather Hills, Bowie, graduating from Bowie HS in 1990.  From an infant, he loved water, any water: the tub, a puddle, gushing water after a hard rain, splashing with his little sister Amy in the backyard blow-up pool, hitting the beach while camping at Chincoteague, and the ocean off Emerald Isle, NC, where the family enjoyed vacations in high school.  Ben loved cars – Chevys to drive when older, but all models of Matchbox cars as a toddler up.  He began building model cars in elem. school, then, military airplanes, particularly F-14 Phantoms, customizing his own parts from kit plastic. The Patuxent River Naval Air Museum in Lexington displayed four of his fighter jets, and April 28 sent an email asking if he still wanted to be a volunteer, they had openings.  In October 2007, he drove 530 miles to Grumman Bethpage, Long Island, to donate his F-4 Tomcat. Trips to the Air & Space Museum, where he absorbed every exhibit about planes, wars, and space, were always a hit.  He was always under a car hood with his Dad, who bought him his first Camaro at age 14 to work on.  He became a proficient mechanic on a succession of Camaros, loved Corvettes, was restoring a ’57 Belair, and was always available to work on his dad’s drivers and antiques. Ben loved driving, exploring places, and visiting family in Crisfield and Hanover, PA.  He loved all the traditions surrounding holidays, especially Christmas.  He was an easy kid, and grown-up, to buy for.  He had a vast library of books on cars and planes.  He could count on Mom to “do” D.C., the museums, war memorials, talk Ospreys and other birds, and attend Audubon programs.  He worked at Rip’s Country Inn with Amy and friend Doug O’Connell while attending Anne Arundel CC.  On February 6, 1996, Ben joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served five years, from VM5RT-253 Squadron at Cherry Point NAS, SC, through training as a KC-130 airframe mechanic specializing in hydraulics in TN, to MCAS Futenma in Okinawa, Japan, honorably discharged February 3, 2001.  After the service, he began taking history classes at the U. of MD toward a B.A. in History.  He enjoyed showing family “his” brick with his name/rank along a path at the U.S. Marine Museum in Triangle, VA.  He moved into a 1921 bungalow in Cottage City, MD, in 2010.  He loved its history, and wanted to write a book on the Battle of Bladensburg. He worked at Creative Signage in College Park for over ten years, where Amy has worked in sales since college, over 15 years.  Ben coordinated shipping and receiving.  Recently, he directed the company’s first-ever move to a new and larger facility in Beltsville.  The company moved from their old space a month ahead of schedule, all items intact.  Ben saved the t-shirt the company made for employees during the move to wear on his first day there, May 1.  Instead, on that day, the company gathered their 40 employees to share with each other and Ben’s family what he had meant to them individually and to the company.  People remember Ben for his warm smile, his curiosity, that encyclopedic memory, kind heart, and the wealth and depth of knowledge he had on so many topics.  He loved his parents Maureen and Daniel Blades of Bowie; his sister Amy Blades, nephew Taylor Eisentraut and niece Alyssa Eisentraut of Sykesville; and all his aunts, uncles, cousins; friends; and godson Ryan O’Connell.  He loved attending every fun, themed, birthday party Amy threw for Taylor and Alyssa, and kept every invitation, card, and thank-you drawing they made for their Uncle Ben.  He was a gentle but strong man who loved every family celebration his mother or Amy hosted.  His greatest love came at age 41, when he met Claudia Imery (Blades).  They had many things in common, explored new places, restaurants, parks, the Eastern Shore, and FL.  They married July 26, 2013, at the Prince George’s Co. Circuit Courthouse, and enjoyed working on their home.  They also shared the same love of family, Claudia’s brother Roberto Imery and wife Rosa in Baltimore, Aunt Mercedes Barraza, and cousins in the States - and mother-in-law Nora Barraza and Claudia’s sister Nora Imery and her children, who he met in person, instead of on FaceTime, when they went to visit them in El Salvador.  Two years later, he met more family in Guatemala at a family reunion.  They all fell in love with Ben, and he them. Ben was most proud of Claudia’s determination to become a citizen of the United States, a country she loves and has worked in many years.  He was her greatest champion on that journey.  While her beloved won’t be by her side for her swearing-in as a citizen of the United States May 6, there is comfort in knowing what it meant to him, too.  He will be sorely missed by the many lives he has touched. Fly high, Benjamin