Fred Benjamin "Ben" Ridge Jr., 68, died March 12, 2006, at Reynosa, Mexico.

He was born Sept. 17, 1937, in Grantsburg, Wis., the first child of Fred Benjamin and Irene Pearl Pennel Ridge Sr. He attended school in Turon. A longtime Hutchinson resident, he farmed at Yaggy Plantation, and then was an auto mechanic and service station owner.

He belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He served in the Kansas Army Reserves.

In 1960, he married Wanda June Purvis on the Yaggy Plantation. On May 23, 1980, he married Lila Pearl Lowe in Hutchinson. She survives.

Other survivors include: two sons, Robert and his wife, Robyn, and Clifford and his wife, Gayle, all of Hutchinson; a daughter, Carol Hemphill, Zapata, Texas; two stepdaughters, Cheri Payne, Emporia, and Darlynn Davison, Hutchinson; two brothers, Maynard and his wife, Sybil, and Delmas and his wife, Linda, all of Hutchinson; a sister, Gladys Ray, Hutchinson; 21 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and a brother, David Ridge.

Funeral will be at 2:30 p.m. Monday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 518 East 43rd, Hutchinson, with Bishop William Bower presiding. Friends may sign the register from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Elliott Mortuary, Hutchinson. The family will greet friends from 12:30 to 2 p.m., Monday at the church. Burial will be in Fairlawn Burial Park.

Memorials may be sent to the family, in care of the funeral home.