Benjamin Baptiste entered peacefully into rest in San Ramon, California on March 9, 2020. He was 84 years old.

Born April 2, 1935 (his grandfather’s birthday) in Pennsylvania to parents Celia and Dario Baptiste, Ben graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry and went on to complete a Masters of Science in Physical Sciences from Stanford University. Following graduation he worked as a safety engineer from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for 12 years.

Ben had many hobbies and especially loved singing in Barbershop Quartets and Barbershop Choruses – he was a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society (formerly SPEBSQSA) for ~40 years. During his membership he received the Presidents Award from Society for the Preservation of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA) for his work in helping with the digitalization of barbershop songs/arrangements for the society.

Ben also loved sports - he bowled for most of his adult life and played tennis, softball, and basketball as well. He was a lifelong SF Giants fan, starting prior to their move “out west” - he loved telling the story of listening to the radio of the famous game with the Dodgers when Bobby Thomson hit “the shot heard round the world” to win the NL pennant.

Ben is survived by his sons Kenneth DiBattista (53) and Dario DiBattista (48), who both changed their last names back to Ben’s paternal grandfather’s old Italian family name. He is also survived by his ex-wife Linda Lee Baptiste, sister Frances Veglia, and many other loving family members and friends. He will be greatly missed.

The family requests that donations be made to www.cancerresearch.org in lieu of flowers.

In compliance with the Alameda County shelter in place regulations, we are closing all services to the general public at this time. Please contact the family for more information.