MONTOYA-BENJAMIN

Excerpts from obituary published in San Diego Union-Tribune on 12/27/2015:

Benjamin Franklin Montoya was born in Indio, California, on May 24, 1935. He graduated from Coachella Valley Union High School in 1953 and attended Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, California, before entering the U.S. Naval Academy where he graduated in 1958.  The day after graduation from the Academy he married his high school sweetheart.  Happily married for 57 years, they raised five sons and two daughters who blessed them with 17 grandchildren.

Ben's naval career spanned 32 years. Beginning with a tour in Vietnam, he rose through the ranks to become Chief of the Civil Engineer Corps.  He retired in 1990 with the rank of Rear Admiral.  In addition to his Naval Academy education, Ben also received master's degrees in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown School of Law.  After the Navy, Ben pursued a civilian career in the utility industry, first as a Senior Vice President with PG&E and then as President and CEO of PNM (New Mexico's major utility), from which he retired in 2000.

Ben also served on various boards (corporate, governmental and charitable), including the National Parks Foundation, the California Board of Education, NASA and the 1995 Base Closure Commission.  Of all of his many awards and recognitions, he was most proud of being nominated by his classmates and selected by the USNA Alumni Association as a 2008 Distinguished Graduate of the Naval Academy.

Ben passed quietly on December 19, 2015, after a battle with cancer.  He is survived by his wife, his 7 children and 17 grandchildren.  RADM Montoya has been buried at Coachella Valley Public Cemetery in Coachella, California.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)