Benjamin Lochridge, CBS Executive

VERO BEACH, FLA.

:Benjamin S. Lochridge, husband of Julie Lochridge, died on January 11, the day of his 88th birthday. At the time he was living in Jackson, Wyo., but retained a residence in Vero Beach for the past 15 years.

For 35 years Ben was an employee of the Columbia Broadcasting System, working with such personalities as Arthur Godfrey in the heyday of radio. He retired as vice president of sales during the 1980s and became the right-hand helper of his then-wife, Degna, who ran Wayside Exchange in Wilton, Conn., and participated in many antiques shows, primarily those run by the late Russell Carrell. Degna died in 1990 and a year later Ben married his one-time secretary at CBS, Julie M. Deane, and moved to Vero Beach from his home in Southport, Conn.

"We had some wonderful times with Ben, who we all called Uncle Ben," said Bill Guthman, antiques dealer in Westport, Conn. "We never stopped laughing about the time he went off to a flea market by himself, as Degna was busy in the shop, and came home to a party we were having in his back yard and reported a rash of wonderful sales," Bill said.

As it turned out, he had found a large box of porcelain in the back of the wagon and assumed Degna had packed it for the market. He sold almost every piece for the sticker price, which turned out to be the cost his wife had paid for the repair of each piece. "Needless to say, Degna was not at all happy and Ben just headed off towards the bar," Bill remembers.

"Ben was a wonderful person, always happy, full of information, and ready to have a good time at a moment's notice," said Scudder Smith, editor of Antiques and The Arts Weekly. "We have so many fond memories of being with Uncle Ben, including the day he became godfather for our oldest grandson." Ben is well known among his many friends for putting a new label on an ordinary vodka on the rocks, dubbing the drink a Crystal Yum Yum. "You can have all the Crystal Yum Yums you want, they will never hurt you," he used to say.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by three sons, Benjamin Sturges Lochridge Jr of Toronto, Willard Fiske Lochridge of Wickenburg, Ariz., and Roger Stuart Lochridge of Houston; and two daughters, Laurie Moeller of Jackson, Wyo., and Daryl Hornby, Old Lyme, Conn.

A memorial service will be conducted at a later date.