Robert Benbow Upchurch
October 17, 1950 - February 9, 2024

Robert(Ben) Benbow Upchurch passed away February 9, 2024 after a brief battle with Melanoma Cancer.
Ben was born October 17, 1950 in Washington DC as his parents resided in Falls Church, VA and Bethesda MD. At the age of 9 the Upchurch Family moved to Princeton NJ where Ben grew up and attended Princeton High School. Ben was an athlete and a scholar. He played basketball, ran track, played the trumpet and even dabbled in high school theatre. It was in high school that lawn mowing became a lifelong love/hate relationship. Ben had a few different names in the past. He was known as "Bo" by family and friends, as well as Robert by his grandmother Adeline in memory of her late husband and Ben's grandfather.
It was college that Bo/Robert/Ben settled on the latter to be his first name. Ben attended Columbia University and graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Art History. He also belonged to the Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) Fraternity. Ben became interested in landscape architecture, drafting, sculpture and was a bit of a cartoonist. When the Upchurch family moved to Bellevue, Ben realized the East Coast was not for him and settled in the Pacific Northwest. Over the years Ben tended bar, waited tables, and played tennis. Always the academic, Ben was an avid reader, particularly of Science Fiction, an addicted crossword enthusiast and a lover of puns. He was also a frequent traveler of Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Ben became a teacher of ESL which lead him to his love for Thailand. As life went on, Ben spent half the year in Phuket Thailand and the other half in the Juanita/Kirkland area of Washington. Ben was a singleton, and a devoted son to his parents and brother to his siblings. Ben was predeceased by his parents, Tom and Caroline Upchurch. He is survived by his brother, Chris (Thea) Upchurch, sister Lyndsay(Bill) Upchurch Austin, nieces and nephews Skylar, Kelsey, Caroline, Gavin and Juliana. Ben is deeply missed by family and friends both in Thailand and in the US. A private celebration of Ben's life will be held by family and close friends in Juanita, WA to spread his ashes. A separate ceremony will be held by his friends in Phuket, Thailand. Ben's life was cut too short. Melanoma is quick, fierce and unforgiving. In his memory, rather than a donation please have you and your loved ones checked for skin cancer by a dermatologist and continue to follow up if there are signs.

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