Davis Memorial Chapel

Benito J. Natale
April 8, 1931 - June 7, 2026

Benito John Natale was born at home on Fredella Avenue in Glens Falls, NY April 8, 1931, to Italian-immigrant parents Angelo and Antoinette (Corsini) Natale. Ben graduated from Hudson Falls High School in 1948. His father (a shoemaker) died young and Ben took over supporting his mother and two younger brothers (Angelo [children Maria, Matt, Beth] and Emilio [wife Charyl, daughter Diantha]), working for the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) grocery store in the produce department. He had a younger brother (Jimmy) who drowned at the age of 8 in the Hudson River and whose body was never found. He had an older sister who died at age 2 of tuberculosis in Italy before his parents immigrated to the United States (father in 1923, mother in 1930). Ben married Jane Ruth Eckler May 15, 1955. While they were dating, they belonged to the Glens Falls Operetta Club, participating in shows from 1952 until they were married. They started married life on Bay Street in Glens Falls. They had four children, Denise (Proctorsville, VT) Peter (wife Gail) Schenectady, NY, Thomas (wife Barbara) of Alton, NH, and Mark of Hanover, MA. Their lives always revolved around family.

Ben was accepted into the GE Apprentice program when Denise was 9 months old. They moved their new family to Schenectady, NY, and Ben began a new chapter in his career. The program was a paid 4-year program to teach apprentices the machine trade. When Ben graduated, he was picked up by the management team and never worked in the shop. He worked in various positions over the years from 1956 to 1978 ending his GE career in the Safety Department. His GE boss recruited Ben to come to General Dynamics to run the safety program at GD in Quincy, MA. Ben and Jane decided to leave Schenectady and took their two youngest children to Pembroke, MA. Their two eldest had already graduated from college and were working in their respective fields. Later, Ben would follow his favorite boss to Groton, CT (Electric Boat), when the General Dynamics Quincy plant closed.

It was in Massachusetts that Ben and Jane joined the square-dancing clubs, then the round-dancing clubs and began their joyous life dancing near home 2-3 nights per week, and taking several trips per year to dance in the National Square Dancing Association conventions. They would dance morning to night with breaks only for meals. Ben had learned to dance during lunch break in high school with the athletic director. It was here he began his love of dancing quickly gaining prowess in that arena. Everyone wanted to dance with Ben! Whenever Ben and Jane danced (especially the jitterbug) the floor seemed to clear and folks would just watch them dance. On the many vacation cruises they took, the same thing would happen.

Ben retired from General Dynamics in Groton, CT, at age 62. Once retired, he often wondered how he had had time to work 40 hours. He was an avid gardener, a trail keeper for Wildlands Trust, a golfer, woodworker and general Mr. Fix-it. He felled trees for himself and friends until he was in his late 80’s. He could take just about anything apart and put it back together again. Once, he had Jane’s washing machine completely taken apart on the cellar floor. Jane was pretty worried about this. There were six in the family and she did wash three times per week. It took Ben the weekend, but that washer was up and working perfectly for Monday’s wash.

He built a metal table saw in high school shop class and used that for a long time until he acquired a better saw and started accumulating more woodworking tools until his wood shop was filled with every tool a woodworker could want. His growing collection of original bird houses won first place at the Marshfield Fair every year, as did his other beautiful and creative wood creations. He acquired a lathe and learned woodturning; he was an active member of the South Shore Wood turners Club. He sold many of his pieces at the Second Parish juried sale in Norwell, MA, as well as out of a beautiful oak cabinet he made to show off his work in his daughter’s chiropractic office. Over the years, he made a collection of cherry pull toys (many of them dinosaurs) for his grandchildren: Dana, Jason, Ashley, Gabi and Kelcie. Later, his great grandchildren (Aria, Benjamin, Austin and Gavin) would play with the same toys. As soon as the children walked into their house for a visit, the toys were being pulled around.

Somewhere in his early square dancing period, he began beekeeping, joining the Plymouth County Beekeepers Association. When Ben moved to Vermont to live with his daughter, Ben mentored Denise and her youngest brother Mark who became the beekeepers when Ben could no longer participate in the active care of his hives; he always enjoyed sitting near the hives and watching his bees at work. He loved teaching everyone how to keep the bees happy and healthy. He joined the Windham County Beekeepers in Vermont and mentored many beekeepers over the years. He was active in the PCBA’s Marshfield Fair exhibit and built an observation hive for the club. He sold many pounds of pure honey, enjoyed by all who tasted it.

His garden produced vegetables from the time he had a yard to grow them in; his Pembroke garden was his pride and joy. It was a bountiful garden: he and Jane froze beans to have all winter, and they canned enough tomatoes to make Jane’s spaghetti sauce every week (along with Ben’s famous homemade Italian bread). He planted flowerbeds for his bees; he planted apple, peach and pear trees—partly for the bees and partly for the family to enjoy the fruit. He definitely had a green thumb.

He was a member of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic church starting as an altar boy in Hudson Falls, NY. The move to Schenectady brought him to St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church. He joined St. Thecla’s Roman Catholic Church when they made their move to Pembroke, MA. He made many wooden improvements for the church, and he asked to be remembered for them in his obituary. He made two hymn boards and number cards with boxes for the cards, a cross and stand used for the Good Friday service, a large bookcase for the music folders and a small bookcase for the music books, 18 candelabras and 36 brackets to attach to the pews with 2 carts to hold them, frames and plywood inserts for attaching the stations of the cross, a cart to store the stations of the cross and a cherry chest to hold the three containers of Holy Oils for Lenten services display.
In 2024, after a stroke took his ability to walk, he moved to the Gill Odd Fellows Home in Ludlow, VT. He loved the people who became his caregivers and they loved Ben’s quick smile and easy demeanor. He was a true gentleman and a scholar.

Ben is survived by his children, great grandchildren, a cousin, Sister Mary Louise (99) at the Sisters of the Atonement convent (Graymoor on the Hudson), and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one of his bee clubs:
Plymouth County Beekeepers: https://www.plymouthcountybeekeepers.org/
or the Windham County Beekeepers: https://windhamcountybeekeepers.com/
There will be a celebration of life in Vermont on July 11 at the Davis Memorial Chapel in Springfield, VT. Visiting hours are from 12 noon to 1:00 PM. Service will be held at 1:00 PM

There will be a celebration of life at First Church in Pembroke in Pembroke, MA, on July 25. The service begins at 1:00 PM with fellowship to follow.
Please contact the family for details as they are not completed at this writing.