Rev. Benjamin Ray "Ben" Markwell, OFM Cap., '56
Rev. Benjamin Ray "Ben" Markwell, OFM Cap., '56, passed away on September 30, 2024 in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lifetime Member.
Benjamin Ray Markwell was born on January 23, 1938, in Middletown, Ohio, to Jay Barbour Markwell and Helen Bond (Dinger) Markwell Sparks, a nurse’s aid. He grew up with his twin brother George and their siblings Ken, Barbara, and Kay Ann. The family’s life took a turn in 1947 when Helen left Jay and moved the children to Maysville, Kentucky, to live with their grandparents. Ben and George were nine when their parents separated.
In 1950, Helen gave her sons the option of attending a boarding school in Kentucky or Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska. For Ben and George, Boys Town seemed “much more adventurous,” and they spent the next six years there, from 1950 to 1956. Both excelled academically, participated in sports, and found a love for drama and choir. They even toured with Boys Town's choir, performing in places such as Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Ben remarked, “I wouldn’t be the person I am today, had I not gone to Boys Town.”
After graduating from Boys Town, Ben entered St. Lawrence Seminary at Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin, for his first two years of college, where he became a Third Order member. On his application to become a Capuchin friar he wrote: “I believe that it is the most perfect way to follow Christ.” In 1958, he entered the novitiate at Sacred Heart Friary in Baraga, Michigan, where he was invested with the Capuchin habit on August 31. Ben professed his first vows on September 1, 1959, taking the religious name ‘Dacian.’ His clerical studies continued at St. Felix Friary in Huntington, Indiana, and St. Mary Seminary in Crown Point, Indiana, before moving on to St. Anthony Friary in Marathon, Wisconsin, where he completed his studies from 1962 to 1966. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Frederick Freking of La Crosse and, on his ordination invitation, printed the words: “I am in your midst as one who serves.”
Ben’s first assignment was as Retreat Master and Third Order Director at Our Lady Queen of Angels Retreat in Saginaw, Michigan. A year later, he was transferred to Christian Friendship House in St. Clair, Michigan, where he spent the next decade conducting retreats for high school and college students. In 1977, Ben earned a Master’s Degree in Christian Spirituality from Creighton University in Omaha. From 1978 to 1983, he pursued further studies at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, while also assisting at St. John the Apostle Parish. In a letter to his provincial, he wrote: “Even though I am geographically at some distance from the province, I want you to know that I feel very close to the province and very much a part of it. You are all very deeply in my prayers, as I also rely on yours.” This sentiment would remain with him throughout his years in ministry.
In 1983, Ben took on the role of Campus Minister at Wayne State University in Detroit, a position he held for four years. He spent summers ministering in the Middle East and on the Island of Guam, and led numerous retreats for religious sisters and married couples. In August 1987, Ben entered full-time preaching ministry, a role he embraced until 1997, while living in San Lazzaro and St. Charles Friaries in Detroit.
From 1997 to 2018, Ben’s ministry took him to the Middle East, where he served foreign workers in the oil camps. Upon his return to the United States, he entered pastoral ministry at Casa San José in Tucson, Arizona, for a year. Eventually, he moved to Florida to live with his brother George at the Missionaries of Africa in St. Petersburg.
In 2023, Ben moved to St. Fidelis Friary in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he became an active member of the community, happily offering his services in sacramental ministry. On Monday, September 30, 2024, after leading prayer for the community, Ben returned to his room, where he died unexpectedly.
Ben is survived by his siblings, George and Barbara Markwell. He is preceded in death by his parents, Jay Barbour Markwell and Helen (Dinger) Markwell Sparks, his siblings Kenneth Markwell and Kay Ann Hartman, and his Capuchin brothers, with whom he shared a life of prayer and ministry for six decades.
The Liturgy of Christian Burial will begin at 4:00 PM (CDT) on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at the St. Lawrence Seminary Chapel, 301 Church street, Mount Calvary WI 53057. Burial will take place in the St. Lawrence Friary Cemetery in Mount Calvary, WI. A dinner to follow at St. Lawrence Friary.
Liturgy will be live-streamed via www.thecapuchins.org
Visitation: Thursday, October 10, 2024 from 2:30 PM – 3:45 PM (CDT) at the St. Lawrence Seminary Chapel.
For further details, please contact the Sippel Funeral Home of St. Cloud (920) 999-2291 or visit www.sippelfuneralhome.net