Benjamin Muhlhauser

Benjamin “Ben” J. Muhlhauser, 83, of Beulah, ND passed away Thursday, November 1, 2018 at Sakakawea Medical Center, Hazen. Services will be held at 10:00 AM CST on Monday, November 5, 2018 at Zion Lutheran Church, Beulah with Pastor Mary Lou Aune officiating. Burial will be held at a later time.

Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church.

Ben was born on September 30, 1935 in Beulah, ND to Benjamin Joseph and Hulda (Sandau) Muhlhauser. He was the oldest of three children. Ben was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and was a lifetime member of Zion Lutheran Church. Ben attended Beulah Public School through the eighth grade but did not wish to attend high school. As a youngster, Ben and his playmates did typical boy things: roller skated, played marbles, shot slingshots, played hide and seek, kick-the-can and anti-over, and walked around Beulah on stilts! Ben caught snakes and hung them up on his mother’s clothes line and in the morning, only snake skins remained. He rode his bicycle to the Knife River, swam in the river and caught bullheads with his bamboo pole. In the winter months, Ben shoveled snow and one of his duties was to chop and haul coal from the coal shed to the house for cooking and heating. He tried very hard to please his mother because she was “fussy” about how he chopped coal. Ben was very active in Boy Scouts of America and went on many camp-outs and jamborees and earned his Eagle Scout badge.

 Later on, Ben and his friends boxed at the garage and Ben knocked out several competitors. Ben learned to drive as a teenager and his father always provided him with a vehicle to drive. Ben enjoyed driving around with his buddies. He was very particular with his cars and didn’t like when his youngest sister would play with her dolls in his cars.

Ben grew up in his father’s business, Ben’s Standard Service. At an early age Ben learned how to wait on customers, pump gas, check oil and tires, and wash windows. He learned mechanical skills from his father and the other employees. Ben helped assemble Allis Chalmers farm machinery and make deliveries to customers in the Beulah area.

Ben took over operations of Ben’s Standard Station after his father’s passing in 1958 and continued providing vehicle service and maintenance to the community. In the early 1980’s Ben quit selling gasoline and started selling mufflers in the same building on Main Street but continued to do service and maintenance work. In 2008, Ben closed his business and sold the property. In 2015 he had an auction sale and sold his house on Main Street which he had lived in since 1957.  Ben moved to the school house apartments in 2012.

As an adult, Ben enjoyed riding his Honda Goldwing motorcycle, often going for long rides with his cycle club. He could also be found target shooting with friends. Ben enjoyed going for drives with his friend, Aggie, often stopping at the Dairy Queen. Ben could “tinker” out tunes on the piano and also had several guitars and enjoyed playing the harmonica.

Ben also enjoyed watching TV, one of his favorite shows was Ninja Warriors. When he was younger, Ben saw almost every show at the Roxy Theater. Also in his younger years, Ben and his dad started collecting old fashioned lead pencils. He had quite a collection.

Ben is survived by his longtime friend and companion, Aggie Fetch and her son Vern, both of Beulah; his sister, Betsinda Nygaard and her step-children, Steve and his son, Tristan and Cheryl (Larry) Ballard and her daughters, Amber and Katie, all of Forney, TX; his sister, Marguerite Muhlhauser of Williston, ND; and many cousins, second cousins, friends and caregivers.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother-in-law, Arnold Nygaard; and his nephew, Jeffrey Nygaard.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Hazen Hospice, Hazen, ND.

Arrangements are conducted by Barbot Funeral Home, Beulah and Hazen.

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