Benjamin Blair Dalton

Benjamin B. Dalton, Fort Collins, CO, died Monday, February 23rd, 2015 at his home. He was 57.
Ben was born on October 17, 1957 in Mountain Home, ID, and raised in Manitowoc, WI. He was the son of Jon Weymouth Dalton and Nancy Grace (Holmes) Dalton. Ben graduated from Lincoln High School, Manitowoc, in 1976. Ben was an award-winning and record-breaking track athlete throughout his school career, in both middle and long distance events. His high school records in the 800m and 1600m (mile) still stand nearly 40 years later. Ben attended the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. He graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1981.

In 1986 he married Charlene Horn, also from Manitowoc, and together they had three children, Mira Mareva (21), Brittany Blair (18), and Emily Elizabeth (18). The marriage ended in 2005, and Ben was re-married to Roberta Menten, also from Manitowoc, in 2009.

Ben had been employed as an engineering contractor, and his most recent assignments were at Inova Labs, Austin TX, and at Ball Aerospace, Boulder, CO. An accomplished engineer, Ben's specialty was Reliability Engineering, which suited perfectly his love of understanding how things worked and determining solutions to improve quality and reliability. Ben was happiest working in a lab setting, designing and testing products and components, and thinking through difficult engineering challenges.

In his private life, Ben was a member of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Fort Collins, and also of the Northern Colorado Beekeepers Association. He was a landowner of rural mountain properties in the Colorado Rockies and in the Snowy Range in Wyoming.

Ben is survived by his wife, Roberta, his children, his step-children Matthew (16), Russell (10), and Caroline (10), his mother Nancy, and his sisters Kathryn (Dalton) Vadenoff, Dorothy Dalton Sheridan, and his brother Timothy Dalton. He was preceded in death by his father Jon, and his first wife Charlene.

A memorial service is being held on Monday, March 9th at 11:00 a.m. at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Fort Collins, CO. Memorial donations may be made to Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, 2000 S. Lemay, Fort Collins, 80525. Ben's ashes will be scattered per his wishes, when weather permits, at his mountain property in Colorado.