In Memoriam

Benjamin Lane (BSME ’50) passed away after a brief illness with pancreatic cancer on Sept. 21, 2007, in San Diego. Lane was born on April 27, 1916, in St. Louis. Following his passion for flying, he worked in the nascent airplane industry in St. Louis and in 1937, joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain, fighting until 1939. Lane returned to Los Angeles, where he married his wife of 68 years, Sylvia Eisenberg, on Sept. 2, 1939. He served in the Army Air Force in World War II, and after the war, graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from USC in 1950. While attending USC, he competed for the track team and became accomplished with the javelin. During this period, Lane also became a die-hard fan of the USC Trojan Football team and held season tickets for more than 50 years. His first job out of USC was working at Cleveland Crane, where one of his noteworthy engineering accomplishments was designing the tracks for rides in Disneyland, including the Peter Pan ride, the Jungle Boat ride and the Mark Twain Steamboat ride. These rides all opened in 1955 and have been enjoyed by children from all over the world. Lane migrated into the health-care field in the 1960s, managing health-care and nursing-home facilities for more than 30 years, and was elected a fellow in the American College of Nursing Home Administrators. He was instrumental in developing a role for nurse practitioners and other allied health professionals in working with mental health and elderly patients in both in-patient and outpatient facilities. Lane was active in scouting in Whittier, Calif., and helped run the Air Explorer Troop 939A for several years. Accompanied by Sylvia, he traveled to almost every continent and made friends wherever they went. He leaves behind a legacy of love and admiration for the scores of people whose lives he touched and befriended with his kind Midwestern way. He is survived by his wife, Sylvia; his children, Leonard Lane of Corona del Mar, Calif., Reese Lane of Burbank, Calif., and Nancy Lane of Hillsborough, Calif.; their spouses, Christel Lane and Fred Tileston; his grandchildren, Reid, Trevor, and Michael; and their spouses, Paige, Jake and Veronica; and his great-grandchildren, Alex, Julia, Sophia and Max.

Rodney Lawrence Hewitt (MAOM ’69), a 35-year resident of Redondo Beach, Calif., passed away peacefully in his home on Sept. 16, 2007, at the age of 79. Hewitt was born in Pittsburgh on July 9, 1928. He is survived by his son, Erich (Ute); daughter, Stephanie; and four grandchildren, Raquel, Colette, Jeremy and Michelle. A graduate of O.C.S. in 1952, he completed Officers Electronics School at Ft. Monmouth, N.J., and served in Germany as technical liaison officer to the German Signal Corps., with an honorable discharge in 1953. He was also a graduate of the University of Maryland (B.S.), University of North Dakota and USC (M.S.). He worked in the aerospace industry for 38 years, doing field engineering, training and technical assistance to support domestic and foreign airborne radar systems. After retirement, he focused on his passion, ham radio (KM6KU). His voice will be missed over the airwaves. Many will remember him as the master of ceremonies at the annual Alpine Village Oktoberfest, which he hosted for the past 15 years. He was respected and will be dearly missed. To send the family a message, share a memory or view the online video tribute, please visit www.LAfuneral.com.