In the announcement for the memorial, this email address was provided:
"Emails of appreciation to the family may be sent to:
bensonphillips@lsm.org"
Regarding the memorial, at first Benson's 3 children spoke about their Dad; then his 9 (?) grandchildren spoke about their "Pawpaw"...how much they loved him and how much he loved them back; then Barbara spoke about her husband. There were plenty of funny stories about their lives with Benson as Dad, as Pawpaw and as a husband. From those closest to him, we heard about who Benson was a real, loving "person". Overall, this was a very sweet time.
Unfortunately, not many of us got to live this life with our family that Benson freely lived with his. Because of his position in the organization, he was free to live the life he chose. I do not begrudge his family, but I grieve for those of us under Benson's "care" who did not have the same liberty. Why? "If you take care of the church, God will take care of your family." Clearly, Benson took care of his own family.
If Ben doesn't know why someone left, Ohio is right, talk to the Andersons. Read their book. It's clear why they left. Then tell the Andersons "just come back." To anyone who really wants to know why people leave the LC, the information is readily available.
Just a thought