Benjamin Fernandez Herbert

Over the years, as a school counselor, I have been blessed to be in a position to work with many, many young students from kindergarten through beyond high school. Their beautiful faces and unique expressions come to my mind as I recall good, sad and life-changing experiences that will be forever in my heart. Not one young man or young woman has ever been alike in their life story, personality or challenges.

Ben Fernández Herbert was a Fillmore High School Graduate of 2011. He lived in his beautiful Fillmore all his life. Ben tragically passed away in a car accident on Sunday, January 18, 2015.
Ben was born to Sara Abigail Herbert and Saul Fernandez. He is survived by his mother Sara A. Herbert, siblings Jorge Garcia Herbert, Claudina Luna Herbert, Carmen Aragón Herbert and Brenda Medina Herbert as well as nephew Derek Luna, and many aunts and uncles on both sides of family. Sadly, Ben’s father, Saul Fernandez, died in a bike-riding accident when Ben was three years old.

Ben was a handsome young man, physically, and from within; he had that special gift of being friendly, charismatic, having a happy demeanor with a megawatt smile that reminded you of what a decent young man and all that is good in the world was all about. Ben knew how to be a good, sincere friend and exuded a healthy outlook on life. He had such a positive influence on everyone he met. Those of us who knew Ben; his loving mother, Sara, lovely girlfriend Amanda, siblings, uncles and aunts, friends, co-workers and adults, whether for a moment or years, have felt the great loss and impact of his tragic passing. We also acknowledge how very blessed we all were to be touched by Ben.

He had set many goals in his life, and was able to reach some pretty serious ones by his young age of 21. That was how he was; he set his goals and met them head-on, one by one. He valued higher education and knew that by acquiring knowledge, he would be able to have a solid foundation for his future life.

He was a loving son. Ben’s nickname for his precious mom was “Pancha”, as he hugged and kissed her with great love. Ben would tease his sweet Grandmom “Cuca” María Fernández, who raised him alongside his mom, and make her laugh when he sang to her as he returned home from seeing his beautiful girlfriend Amanda. Mom Sara lovingly recalls how, as children, he and his nephew Derek loved to play with their Power Rangers and they used to switch and wear mismatched Power Rangers socks all the time. Ben would dress up in his Power Rangers suit and have a blast. Ben and Derek were 6 months apart, Ben being the eldest. Laughing, mom said that Ben loved his beloved pet gecko “Lilo” so much that once he desperately tore the house inside out until Lilo was found hidden behind the bathroom door. Mom said that Lilo would immediately come up to Ben’s shoulder when he laid his hand out, but Lilo would hide and not come out for anyone else.

Mom laughed as she said how much Ben loved BBQ pork ribs, piling up the BBQ sauce high on his plate! Mom recalls how much he ate and ate, but always remained slender. She remembered how he and his Derek signed up to play football when he was 8 years old. She loved watching him have fun and trying out new things.

Mom added, he and Derek had made a pact to team up to start working on a professional dream to be rescue firefighters in the mountainous areas. This past January 12th Ben and Derek started the Spring Semester at Ventura College. Mom Sara and Grandmom Cuca would see them both go off with their backpacks, as they did when they were little boys.

In remembering him, his older brother Jorge said, “Ben was an excellent person who never gave up on his goals. Despite tough obstacles in his young life, he remained strong and remained optimistic because he believed that through his own hard work and effort he would, and always did, figure a way to meet the latest challenge. Ben’s great love for his beautiful mother Sara, and his love, respect and fear for his loving God helped him in his struggles in life.”

Mrs. Isela Larin, FHS Career Center Counselor, stated that Ben was a very dedicated, highly motivated, polite young man who came into her office asking about the process to serve as a FHS Fire Department Cadet. He was approved and served as a Fillmore Fire Cadet in his FHS Junior year, 2010. He successfully completed the program and was a great asset to the Fillmore Fire Department.

Former Fillmore Starbucks Supervisor, Alberto Caceres, told me that Ben had recently been promoted as supervisor and had just opened the Santa Paula Starbucks store. His loving girlfriend Amanda Armstrong, hundreds of school and college friends, as well as Starbucks coworkers from the Fillmore and Santa Paula Starbucks, greatly miss him.

Jorge said, “Ben never accepted ‘I can’t’ as part of his vocabulary. Ben found God to be very present in his daily life, but also was very much aware of what God expected of him – no excuses! He had a lot of thoughts that he shared with many of his friends, words that gave life and encouragement to others dealing with hard moments in their lives. He was the kind of person that would share his time talking with friends and guide his friends and gave so much of his energy to serve others.”

Pastor Ernie Rangel, of Promesa de Jesús Church, spoke of Ernie with great love, “Ben, (and his mother, Sara) was a very active member of their church. Ben was in the youth group, church choir and band, playing his guitar for many years.”

As I remember Ben Fernández Herbert, the young man who left us too early in life, I pray that his young friends who have been touched by this tragedy remember him as he was. Ben was an excellent role model for all and I have learned a lot from him to be a better person. I wish we could have duplicated him a million times, because the world would have been a much better place, less violence, less bullying, good hearts around.

Mom Sara and Grandmom Cuca said they would always leave the outside light on for him, listening for his steps as he returned late at night. Mom said they still leave the light on, waiting for him to come home.

Norma Pérez-Sandford is a FUSD District K-12 Counselor