Benjamin Edward van Dissel

Ben van Dissel, 70, of Spokane, WA went home to be with the Lord on August 12, 2026. He passed away peacefully at home from heart disease. He fought a valiant battle after a mild heart attack severely weakened his heart in November.

He was born on August 31, 1955 in Derby, CT to Gerrit van Dissel and Adriana (Lockhorst) van Dissel.

Ben attended Wellesley Senior high school and Northeastern University in Boston before enlisting in the US Air Force. He attended training at Joint Base Lackland-Randolph AFB, San Antonio, TX and his Air education and training was at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX. He served many temporary duty assignments while enlisted. One of his favorites was in Lake Placid, New York during the 1980 winter Olympics. He was last stationed at Hill Air Force base in Ogden, UT where he was a Sargent and crew chief of a twin engine Huey with the 40th ARRS (Air Rescue and Recovery Service).

After his honorable discharge, he attended classes at Weber State College (now University). He eventually taught classes in blueprinting and GD&T (Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing) at the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology Center. He earned his A&P license and worked at Williams International in various positions at the aerospace advanced manufacturing facility lastly as a QC (quality control) inspector. He loved the company's extracurricular activities and was the catcher, number "00" on their softball team.

He met Cynthia Knowlton in 1985, who later became his wife on August 1, 1987. They just celebrated their 39th anniversary together.

Their first son, Christopher, was born in May, 1991 in Utah and the family moved to Spokane, WA later that year. They had three more children; Jonathan, Katheryn and Jeffery.

After the move, he worked briefly for the US postal service before obtaining full-time work at Northwest Pump and Equipment. He later worked many years as an IT tech for URM stores and later for Rockwood Clinic. His latest position before retiring in 2025, was as a Windows System Administrator for the global logistics and international shipping company, Expeditors International.

In his non-work time when the kids were young, he was a Cub Scout leader for troop #242 and also served as committee chair. He ran many pinewood derby races. He was also very active in his Clear Lake Pines community where the couple first bought a vacant property in 2000. He served several terms as the park president and remained active with the board and park activities. Their kids spent many summers at the lake and on the water. The park, fishing, boating, and the ocean as well as riding his Harley, "Cherry" and "tinkering" were truly among his passions.

He is survived by his wife, Cynthia, three children, Jon, Kaytee(Yeager), and Jeff. Two beautiful grandchildren, his two brothers, Bart and Ron van Dissel, sister Geraldine (Warner), and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, son Christopher, and nephew Dennis Knowlton.

An interment ceremony will be held at the WA state veterans cemetery in the committal shelter on Thursday, September 17th at 1:00 PM followed by a celebration of life held at Clear Lake Pines Beach Club on September 19th at 4:00 PM.

Donations may be made to WA State Fallen Heroes Project at https://www.wafhp.org/.