About Benjamin Daniel Elo
(September 8, 1993 - July 21, 2008)
Ben Elo was a young man you couldn’t help but cheer for. From his great success on the soccer field, to his many academic accolades, Ben was a brilliant, buoyant person with a bright future ahead of him. He was a loving son and grandson, and a great brother and friend. Ben was taken too soon, yet his life was a gift we will cherish forever.
Ben’s story began on a warm summer day in 1993, as the classrooms filled with kids once again in Indianapolis, Indiana. Those were times of great change in this country and around the globe, from Bill Clinton taking the Oval Office, to the World Trade Center bombing, to the creation of the World Wide Web. Amid these changing times, Brian and Melanie (Reid) Elo experienced a big change of their own on September 8, 1993, with the birth of their first child, a baby son they named Benjamin Daniel Elo.
Ben was born at Indianapolis’s St. Vincent Hospital, and right from the start, he was ahead of his time. He was born three weeks early, and after just 80 minutes of labor! He couldn’t wait to get here, his parents always said. He was ready for the world, no question, and weighed 6 lbs., 8 oz., healthy, happy, and more than a little chunky, too! (He had lots of “tummy blubber” as a baby).
Ben’s parents were thrilled to have their baby boy join their family, and Melanie fondly remembers her very first Mother’s Day the next spring, spending the day at Holliday Park on the north side of Indianapolis, laughing and playing with her infant son. What a special moment it was, one of so many over the years.
The family always embraced a healthy lifestyle, and Ben was raised to follow suit right from the start. His second birthday cake was created as a digger, and made with plenty of fruit. Little Ben even thought Hershey Kisses were toys, eschewing the candies for fresh fruit instead!
Ben’s second birthday also brought with it a baby brother, named Jack, and a new home in Mooresville, Indiana, southwest of Indianapolis. Although a major change in the life of a two and a half year old, Ben welcomed Jack into the world with plenty of brotherly love.
When Ben was just four years old, he began playing soccer at the YMCA in Greenwood. He wasn’t in love with the game at first, but by the end of the first season, he was hooked, and his soccer career would bring him great happiness over the years.
When he was six, Ben welcomed a baby sister to the family, a little girl named Gracie. Ben was always an active, mature young boy, and very helpful and thoughtful. He was an “awesome” big brother, Gracie says, and a young man hard not to look up to. He was also a great older cousin to the younger children in his extended family, too.
The family was very close-knit, and did much together over the years. The boys (Dad included) enjoyed going fishing together, and the family loved going on camping trips, or trips to Kings Island in Ohio, where Ben learned to love roller coasters.
Ben was a very adventurous young man, who enjoyed experiencing new things with his family. The family has many fond memories together, from swimming with the dolphins in Discovery Cove in Orlando, to a thrilling white-water rafting trip at the North Fork Ranch in Colorado. Ben loved it all.
Ben attended Mooresville Christian Academy, where he started as a kindergartener. Ben loved school, and was a very good student. He was an excellent reader, and especially enjoyed history and science; his natural curiosity helped him excel in the classroom. He was even named to the Junior National Honor Society and had been honored by the President's Education Awards Program for Outstanding Academic Excellence.
Of course, Ben excelled outside of the classroom, too, and was as athletically gifted as he was academically. He played baseball and basketball, but his first love was always for soccer, soccer, soccer. He was a natural, and was so good, in fact, he was picked for the standout traveling soccer club, the Carmel United Soccer Club, playing all over the state and the Midwest.
Ben’s CUSC team even won the state championship in 2008, going undefeated at 5-0 and outscoring its opponents by a 14-0 margin. In the championship game, Carmel United topped WSU Green 2-0. Wearing the gold medal around his neck was one of Ben’s proudest moments.
Ben was very competitive, and no matter his successes in soccer, he was always hungry for more. His dream was to play soccer at the University of Notre Dame, taking the field for the Fighting Irish. He watched ESPN and the Soccer Channel almost non-stop, too.
As religiously as he practiced and studied his sport, Ben was even more fervent in his faith. He loved the Lord, and accepted Christ into his life in the fourth grade. Ben attended Mooresville Christian Academy from kindergarten until the middle of the eighth grade, when he transferred to Paul Hadley Middle School in Mooresville.
Ben was preparing to be a freshman at Mooresville High School in the fall. Sadly, he died suddenly on Monday, July 21, 2008, at the age of 14.
Ben was a remarkable young man, gifted and talented, thoughtful and faithful. He was a great athlete, a good student, and an even better son, grandson, brother and friend. There are many things about this world we do not understand, but this much we do: Ben was a gift to us, a gift we will love and cherish and remember forever. He will be so greatly missed.
Ben was preceded in death by an aunt, Laura Butler. Ben is survived by his parents, Brian J. and Melanie (Reid) Elo of Mooresville; brother, Jack Elo; sister, Grace Elo of Mooresville; maternal grandparents, Jon and Sharon Ellers of Kokomo, Indiana; paternal grandparents, John and Phyllis Elo of Crown Point, Indiana; aunts & uncles, John Elo (Rae), Phil Elo (Lori), Tim Elo (Lisa), Karen Broholm (Mark), Steve Butler (Thomasa), Linda Newbauer (Steve), and a host of loving cousins.
Calling is Thursday, July 24, 2008, 3-8 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 900 Indianapolis Road, Mooresville. A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, July 25, 2008, 10 a.m., at the Mooresville Christian Academy, 4271 E. SR 144, Mooresville. Officiants will be Rev. Dennis Payton and Rev. Gene Young. Funeral Arrangements are being handled by the Carlisle & Son Funeral Chapel.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Community Foundation of Morgan County, Benjamin Elo Memorial Fund, 250 N. Monroe St., Mooresville, IN 46158. Share a favorite memory or photo of Ben by visiting www.carlisleandson.com or www.lifestorynet.com.
