Ben Patz passed away peacefully at his home on May 12, 2024, at the age of 88.

Born on August 17, 1935, in Johnson City, NY, Ben and his 2 siblings Dave
and Doug, were raised in a family that valued hard work and the importance of
education. Ben graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in
Electrical Engineering. He loved sports and played football, baseball and basketball.
Ben continued his education by gaining his Masters and Doctorate in Electrical
Engineering and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. While in
Pittsburgh, Ben met Anna Mae, a chemistry major from Carlow College and they
married in 1961.

In the early 60’s with the first two children in tow, Ben and Anna Mae moved to Cocoa
Beach, FL. Ben was a research scientist at Kennedy Space Center and also taught at
Florida’s Graduate Engineering Education System (GENESYS). Ben was part of this
state-of-the-art remote learning system long before remote learning and virtual
meetings became a thing. While in Cocoa Beach, Ben and Anna Mae welcomed 2 more children into their family.

Ben and Anna Mae then moved to Orlando where Ben worked at Martin Marietta (now
Lockheed Martin), teaching at the Naval Training Equipment Center, Rollins College
and finally for many years at FTU (now UCF) as a professor of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Engineering.

His students from the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Engineering recall Dr. Patz as a patient teacher who spent countless hours instructing students inside and outside the classroom. While a professor he continued as a consultant at NASA, working on various Space Shuttle missions and other launches. Ben was a member of IEEE and led its Computer Society where he ran conferences for many years. While in Orlando, Ben and Anna Mae welcomed their 5th child.

Ben was an avid reader of history and loved watching educational shows with his
children such as Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and National Geographic. He was
constantly educating; teaching his children to swim, play chess and taking them for long walks in the fields and woods to learn about nature firsthand. Ben also made a point to take his children to the historic first Space Shuttle launches. He instilled life-long learning and a strong work ethic in his children who all excelled in their education and careers.

Ben is survived by his wife of 63 years, Anna Mae, his children, Benjamin Patz (Cindy), Mark Patz (Donna), Susan Pringle (Bruce), Eric Patz; and Amy Lewellyn (Mark); his nine grandchildren; four great grandchildren and his brother Douglas Patz.