Bernard Christopher "Ben" Hackman 11-10-78 to 11-1-13

Born in Woodstock Illinois on 11-10-1978 Ben grew up in northern Illinois for the first 12 years. He lived with and is survived by his mom, Ms. Sue Kennedy. He attended grade school and started junior high in Illinois before moving to Pennsylvania in 1989. In 1990 he and his mom moved to Maryland to be close to family. He loved animals, especially his dogs, and considered them part of the family. He leaves behind Sarah, his border collie, which his mom will take care of as promised. He attended Old Mill and then Chesapeake High School before attaining an associate degree in criminal justice from Anne Arundel Community College. He had started work on a degree in psychology at Bowie State. Ben worked as a private investigator and security for large retail chains. He was active in his church and was baptized at First Christian Church in Glen Burnie, where he accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. He later joined the church at Grace Baptist in Bowie MD where he was active in youth ministry and missions. Ben did not define family based on blood relations. While he is further survived by his great-grandmother Ms. Clara Engel-Brito of Baltimore, his maternal grandmother Mrs. Claire Kennedy, two aunts, Mrs. Karen Crout and Ms. Colleen Kennedy, his uncle, Mr. Tom Kennedy, and his sister, Mrs. Jessica Stateler, who resides in Michigan with her husband and Ben's two nephews, Ben's family went beyond this. Ben is loved by his friends Antoinette and Glenn Hodges who he considered his sister and brother, and their kids Brooke and Jackson, loved and admired their "uncle Ben". Ben was also blessed with his best friend since age 12, Mr. Carl Fondelheit. Carl and Ben referred to each other as brothers, who loved and supported each other unconditionally over the years. Carl lives in Oregon, but during the past year dropped everything to be at Ben's bedside several times. Ben was a friend and mentor and often "baby-sitter" to his many cousins, Alex and David Crout and their sister Amy Crout O'Neil, Ryan Engel and Ricky Neal. Ben touched so many lives, it is impossible to list them all here. Ben wanted to come home from the hospital, after being their 3 months and having two unsuccessful induction chemotherapies, he just wanted to be in his own bed and have his dog Sarah at his side. He was able to do that for about 10 hours before having to be taken back to the hospital. He was a true missionary of God and was not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Until the leukemia robbed him of the ability to talk, Ben would share his faith with anyone who would listen, doctors, nurses, visitors. My son lived in pain and great torture from his illness this past year, yet rarely showed anger or frustration with those around him. He reminded me often to be "nice" to people even when they were less than professional or nice to us. He taught me more about grace and forgiveness in this past year than I had learned in the last 50 years of my life. Ben faced many challenges in his life, yet relied on his faith and family to overcome them. In his final hours, my son had his family, mom, grandmom, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends surrounding him and talking to him, singing praise songs and loving him from this world into heaven. Ben's legacy begins with the people he led to the Lord, and for those of us left behind at this time, our lives will never be the same.

Friends may visit on Monday November 4, 2013 from 2-4 & 6-8:00pm at the Baarranco & Sons,P.A Severna Park Funeral Home 495 Ritchie Hwy Severna Park, MD 21146. Services will be held on Tuesday November 5, 2013 at 11:00am in the Funeral Home chapel. Interment in the Glen Haven Memorial Park Cemetery, Glen Burnie, MD.

Memorials in his name may be made at: www.gofundme.com and type in the search bar (Ben's Cancer Hope Fund) You can then click on the donate button.

or

Grace Baptist Church Missions Fund 7210 Racetrack Rd. Bowie, MD 20735