Obituary: GILSTRAP, BENJAMIN

Benjamin Lee Gilstrap1952 ~ 2013Benjamin Lee Gilstrap passed away Sunday evening, August 25 2013 of sudden heart failure. He was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1952. Ben was adopted at age 5 by loving parents, Dorothy and Milton Gilstrap of Mountain View, California. Ben graduated from Loma Linda University School of Dentistry. He practiced in California from 1977 through 1989. He met his future wife, Stephanie, in 1986 when she was stationed at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California and followed her to Ft. Huachuca, AZ where he enjoyed playing "house-husbands" and having supper on the table when she got home from a hard day. After visiting his wife-to-be's parents in Logan several times; Ben took the Western Regional Boards so he could obtain his Utah license which was granted in 1990. He practiced in West Jordan for 5 years before purchasing his Sandy office in 1995. He married Stephanie in 1991, lived in North Logan, then Bennion-Taylorsville where sons Berkley Nicholas and Philip Cogan were born and the family moved to South Jordan in 1998. Ben was a gifted dentist who enjoyed the art of dental work and cared about helping his patients. Many patients became valued friends over the years. Ben never treated anyone as inferior to him just because he had a title in front of his name, nor did he wish people to treat him differently socially because of his profession. Above all, Ben always took great care to treat everyone he met with respect and kindness and was never judgmental. Ben also refused to overcharge for his services. There was many a time when a patient would ask Ben for a second opinion after getting an opinion from another practitioner, and virtually every time a second opinion was sought, the patient chose Dr. Gilstrap. One seldom sees a dentist who has so many patients who are as loyal as Dr. Gilstrap's are to him. The Gilstrap family and employees of his dental practice would like to thank our patients for their loyalty & the confidence you placed in Dr. Gilstrap and his staff over the years. Ben was a gifted stained glass artist, built beautiful furniture that would rival anything in the finest furniture stores, did construction, tile work and even worked as a roofer for a year it seemed that there was nothing he put his hand to that he did not succeed at. He loved to play his several guitars he enjoyed strumming, laughing, and playing the guitar with others and over the past 20 years his skill on the instrument improved dramatically. Ben was most loved his sons, Berkley and Philip, and just hours before he died he was telling others how proud he was of the fine young men they had grown up to be. Ben's heart may have stopped, but his spirit lives on through his loving family and many dear friends. We welcome you to celebrate his life with us during a viewing, this Saturday evening, September 7th from 6pm to 8pm, followed by a brief private family farewell. Further information may be found at www.obitsutah.com. Location: Aspen Funeral Services 459 West 9160 South, Sandy, Utah 84070