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Civic Leader Ben Thomas Surber Dies

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McKENZIE — Funeral services for Ben Thomas Surber, 84, of McKenzie are Sunday, January 10, 2 p.m. at the McKenzie First Cumberland Presbyterian Church. His memorial services there were the first in the church’s new sanctuary.
He was born in McKenzie on August 20, 1936 to the late Ben Burns Surber and Kathleen Thomas Surber. He died January 6, 2020 after a long illness. He was the head of Surber Farms, a family business that started in 1958.
Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Lenore Patterson Surber, his son, Thomas (Meredith) Surber of McKenzie, daughter, Natalie (John) Austin of McKenzie and five grandchildren, Reed (Savannah) Austin, Jack Surber, Ben Austin, Eli Surber and Tate Surber, all of McKenzie.
He had a life of public service, including as a commissioner of Carroll County for 44 years, elder in the McKenzie First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, where he was a member for 75 years. He was a member of the McKenzie Special School District Board of Education for six years and the Chamber of Commerce Board of Director for six years, member of the Bethel University Board of Trustees, and was selected Carroll Countian of the Year in 2010. In 2008 he was recognized as the Agri-Business/Farmer of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce when the family farmed approximately 5,000 acres. He served in the Army National Guard from 1958 to 1964. Brummitt-McKenzie Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.