Mr. Benedict Ciuffa

April 29, 2017

Mr. Benedict Ciuffa, born in Herkimer NY in 1940, made it up the hill to the Great Back Forty on Saturday April 29, 2017. He worked for the National Bureau of Standards, and went on to graduate from SUNY Stony Brook. He then pursued a career in Quality Control Engineering, which took him from working on Apollo missions on Long Island, to silos in North Dakota for the SALT talks in the 1970's. He then went on to working in factories producing circuit boards, Crossman air guns, plastics, Sarah Coventry Jewelry, and most recently shopping cart wheels at Jarvis Pemko. He was an avid gardener, photographer, artist, writer, and humanitarian. He was committed to helping anyone he saw in need, whether they were Syrian refugees, at-risk children in Kalamazoo, or El Salvadoran villages in need of pure water. Among his numerous activities, he was involved with Kalamazoo's Art Hop, the Returning Felons Group, and Clean Water for the World. He cherished his wife and daughter and loved immersing himself in different cultures. Ben was very committed to helping others locally and internationally. He went to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to volunteer with the American Red Cross and he was very active with Clean Water For the World, a nonprofit 501c3 organization providing simple adaptable water purification systems at no charge to communities without access to clean drinking water. He was predeceased by his 11 year old son Christopher; his parents Angelina and Alessandro and his sister Tina. He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Barbara, and daughter Jodie. ****NOTE: A lunch gathering will follow the services at the Parish. *****DONATION INFORMATION: If you wish to make donations in Ben's honor, the family requests sending contributions to: CLEAN WATER FOR THE WORLD P.O. Box 20416 Kalamazoo, MI 49009 http://cleanwaterfortheworld.org/?q=Donate