Benjamin Lockman Townsend Mark

Benjamin Lockman Townsend Mark, an activist and musician who never met a stranger, died unexpectedly at his home in Philadelphia on May 6. Ben was 30. Born at Tulane Hospital on July 31, 1994, and raised in a New Orleans profoundly reshaped by Hurricane Katrina, Ben's life-long commitment to social justice was, from an early age, impossible to ignore. From grade school at suburban Metairie Park Country Day School, and later at New Orleans' Ben Franklin High School, Ben became increasingly skilled at pointing out the structural causes of inequality.

This ability was very useful in earning an anthropology degree at Oberlin College in 2018 but put to very practical use in the Philadelphia service industry. Ben worked in catering, food service, and bartending all while becoming a labor and social activist, passionately committed to improving workers' lives. During the height of COVID-19, when many servers lost their jobs, Ben worked throughout South Philadelphia distributing food. As a friend recently wrote, "Ben worked in the hardest places and showed people how to walk into work with your head held high."

As a musician, Ben's abilities were the result of long training, hard work, and inspiration. Ben followed a tried-and-true path: Suzuki violin, summers learning musical theatre at French Woods, and a more classical training at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where Ben pioneered using mandolin in jazz ensembles, large and small. Also in high school, Ben founded a band called Pancake, which played the small circuit of alcohol-free New Orleans venues.

Later at Oberlin, Ben was the creative force and lead singer for the band Bobby Weinbecker and a constant collaborator bringing out the music in everyone. Displaying Ben's life-long talent for organization, Ben founded the Oberlin Gear Co-op as a space for non-conservatory students to create, perform, and record their music. Ben also worked in an Oberlin food co-op as a head cook and hosted several radio shows. But most importantly, Ben nourished a friendship network that has been a beloved family for the past 12 years.

Ben's commitment to social justice cannot be easily separated from Ben's deeply held commitment to using Jewish values in everyday life and to regularly studying Jewish history and traditions. Ben was a religious school student at Touro Synagogue of New Orleans from pre-school to confirmation. In Philadelphia, Ben attended Kol Tzedek synagogue, drawn to its warmly participatory expression of prayer and community. In the past few years, Ben marched and demonstrated for peace in Gaza. Ben fought and organized for a world free from colonial violence.

Ben's best attributes are impossible to measure: a huge heart, a miraculous smile, a genius sense of humor, and the ability to be fully present and listen with a whole spirit to a wildly diverse and loving community of family, co-workers, and friends. Ben met people with a big hug and left every friend with the words "I love you." Ben taught us so much.

Ben is survived by fathers Jeff Lockman and Mark Townsend, mother Rebecca Mark, beloved Brenda Currin. Additional survivors include aunts and uncles Henry Dexter Chadwick, Sheldon Lockman and Karin Stanley, Katharine Lee and Tracey Capen, Victoria Hux, Charles Mark-Walker, Andrew Mark and Dawn Mark, and Irene Townsend; cousins Madeline Lee and Garrett Hoppe, Alice Lee and Spencer Mermel, Dylan and Kristen Lockman, Zoe Stanley-Lockman Blondel and Vincent Blondel, Alex Mark, Sam Mark, Elizabeth Townsend, Martha Terrault, Marshall Harris, Zachary Terrault, Kenneth R. Townsend, Jr., Marietta Wilkinson, Robert Williams, and Thomas Williams.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to: Unite Here Local 274 Strike Fund, 1415 N Broad Street, Suite 219, Philadelphia, PA 19122; Oberlin College Gear Cooperative (designate "Other," then type Oberlin College Gear Cooperative); and the Guardians Institute.

A funeral service will be held at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, May 14, at Touro Synagogue, 4238 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans. A burial service at Hebrew Rest Cemetery will follow.