Obituary of Ben Ross Heath Jr.

Ben Ross Heath, Jr., 78, a West Palm  Beach native, passed away on January 22, 2024. Ben was born on January 3, 1946, at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was blessed to have been raised in the idyllic Northwood Hills area, attending Northmore Elementary, Northboro Junior High, and is a 1964 graduate of Palm Beach High School. The Heath Family, which includes his parents, Ben and Aileen Heath, and his brother, Tommy Heath, are a well-respected family in West Palm Beach having lived in the area since 1925. They were members of Northwood United Methodist Church and involved in the community. Ben grew up in a time when West Palm Beach still had a “small town feel”, where everyone knew their neighbors. It was a time of school, little league baseball, and church on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. He loved talking about the West Palm Beach he remembered. Ben married Pat Turley (PBHS ’65) in 1967 and had two children, Kimberly Aileen and Ben Ross Heath III. While attending college locally at Palm Beach Junior College and Florida Atlantic University, he worked for IBM in Boca Raton and then West Palm Beach’s hometown banking institution, Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Association. In 1980, Ben married Betsy Robbins of Delray Beach, and shortly afterward the family moved to Venice, Florida where he helped a new banking institution get established. He was a banker for the majority of his career. In 2001, Ben and Betsy moved to Indialantic, Florida. He was a voracious reader, loved history, and was an avid Florida Gator fan. Ben always pulled for the underdog, loved animals, and, most importantly, knew he was a child of God. He will be greatly missed by all who love him dearly. Ben is survived by his wife, Betsy, of 43 years and his daughter Kimberly (& Kevin Bauer) and grandson Heath Bauer of Boynton Beach, his son, Ben Ross Heath III (& Tracy) of Palm Bay and his brother, Tom (and Gerralee) Heath of Jacksonville. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled for the spring. In lieu of flowers, the family would ask that you make a donation to A Second Chance Puppies and Kittens Rescue of Palm Beach County.