Ben Lacy O'Callaghan

Atlanta to William John O’Callaghan and Katherine Webb O’Callaghan. The youngest of five

children, Ben graduated from Atlanta Boys High and served in the Army Air Corps in World War

II before becoming a member of Chi Phi Fraternity and going on to receive his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1950. That same year, he married the love of his life, Helen Knox of Atlanta, and they were blessed with sixty nine years together.

Ben was a pioneer entrepreneur in the residential air conditioning field in Atlanta, in which he

worked for over fifty five years. After getting his start in the 1950’s at Dealers Supply Company,

he founded the Ben O’Callaghan Company in 1961, which he later operated as O’Callaghan

Services, Inc. with his eldest son, Chip. Over the course of his career in the HVAC business, Ben

served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers and as Vice

President of the Atlanta Chapter of the National Warm Air Heating & Air Conditioning

Association.

Ben was actively involved in the Atlanta community, where he served as Vice President of the

Brookwood Hills Civic Association and the E. Rivers Elementary School PTA as well as on the

Board of Directors of the Northside Kiwanis Club. A lifelong Republican, he played an active role

in the development of a two-party system in Fulton County during the 1960s. A true optimist,

Ben believed in reaching out to people with different views and backgrounds and finding

common ground, which was evident when he served as Vice Chair for the Fulton County Board

of Elections, where he worked in a bipartisan way to make voting and elections more accessible

and secure for the community. A man of great faith, he was an active member of First

Presbyterian Church in Midtown, where he was a Deacon and Elder. He was a founding member of The

Cherokee Town Club, where he enjoyed playing tennis well into his late eighties. Ben was a

lifelong and avid fan of Georgia Tech football and basketball and loved attending games with his

children and grandchildren.

Ben was a dedicated friend to all; he shared his passions and his faith with the world and was

equally invested in the passions of others. He could make a friend wherever he went and was

dedicated to reaching across perceived social boundaries to find the shared humanity in

everyone he met. His passion and love for music will endure through future generations, as he

continued to share it with his children and grandchildren throughout his life. Ben’s faith was

unrelenting, and compelled him to always look for the greater good in everything through all

walks of life.

Ben was preceded in death by his loving wife of sixty nine years, Helen Knox O’Callaghan, and

son, Ben “Chip” O’Callaghan Jr. He is survived by his three children, Britton Knox O’Callaghan

and his wife Leslie O'Callaghan, William John O’Callaghan and his wife Jennifer Olson, and Helen

O’Callaghan Mulholland and her husband John “Sean” Mulholland; Chip's wife Penny O'Callaghan his ten grandchildren, Alexandra O’Callaghan, John Andrew O’Callaghan and his wife Leah O’Callaghan, Jacquelyn O’Callaghan Salzman and her husband Jesse Salzman, Britton Knox O’Callaghan Jr., Ben “Trey” O’Callaghan III, Abby O’Callaghan, John Mulholland III, Avery O’Callaghan, Ben Mulholland,

William Mulholland; and his great grandson, Rivers Salzman.

A graveside service will be held at Arlington Memorial Park at 11am on Wednesday, May 19th. In

lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made to the American Heart Association,

Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta.