Obituary of Benjamin Ray Kline

Benjamin (Ben) Ray Kline passed away peacefully 11/18/2020.  His loving wife Jacqueline and all his children werewith him in the hospital when he transitioned from this life. Ben was born in Portland, OR, on December 21, 1940 to Benjamin A. and Pearl E. (White) Kline.  His familymoved to a small community, Whitstran, Washington when he was five years old. They later moved to Richland, Washington where he graduated from Columbia High School in 1960. Shortly after that he joined the U.S. Navy and was based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, CA.
Following his enlistment, he had several jobs including working for Boeing in Seattle, but none of the jobs
had felt quite “right” to him. in 1977 moved to Alaska where began a long and extremely successful career.  Hejoined Alyeska Pipeline, first as a welder followed by moving to the Operations group in Valdez, AK where hewas a Controller in charge of oil flow to super tankers until his retirement in 1996.
In 1986 he met Jackie Hannigan who quickly became the love of his life.  They were married in Hawaii and
stayed in Alaska until his retirement when they moved to The Villages, Florida.
He and Jackie were dedicated travelers. They especially enjoyed cruises where they visited new places andmade new friends every year..  Even though he became ill with Parkinson’s disease in 2000 and would
experience many other health issues, they never quit exploring the world.  Jackie kept Ben active, interestedand involved through all of the challenges he faced. He is survived by his beloved wife Jackie, daughters Claudie Traylor, Katherine (Les Briney) Kline and Connie Bellezza (Pete) son Dennis (Ruth) and stepson Rusty Hannigan (Tonya) plus two brothers Robert (Lorie) and Dennis (Mary Jane). Ten grandchildren and two great grandchildren. On 12/21/2021 he will be interred at Florida National Cemetery Bushnell, Florida Followed at 2 pm by a celebration of life at Hiers-Baxley in The Valliage, FL.

In lieu of flowers please donate to the Michael J. Fox foundation for Parkisons research.