Obituary of Ben Landel

Benjamin Landel was born in Ridgewood to Rob and Tricia Landel on November 12, 1999. Ben’s beautiful life was taken by cancer on January 25, 2018 at the age of 18.  Diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive cancer (NUT Midline Carcinoma), Ben spent the last 9 months of his life fighting. Although he inspired us all with his hope, determination, courage and strength during this time, we choose to remember him more for the human being he was and the impact he made on the world around him. Ben embodied all that is good in the world. Known especially for his perpetual kindness, Ben was also unselfish, loyal, trust-worthy, compassionate, generous, focused, forgiving and humble. He was a gift and an inspiration to ALL who knew him. He made all of our lives better simply by sharing his life with us.  A tremendous son, brother, nephew, cousin, grandson, friend and student-athlete, Ben was loved and cherished by his family and friends and admired by his teachers and coaches, his classmates, his teammates and even his opponents. As a talented soccer player and accomplished distance runner at Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, Ben contributed to County, Sectional and State Championship wins as a member of the boys soccer team. Ben also broke numerous school records and received League, County and State honors in Track and Field.

Ben is survived by his parents, Patricia and Robert Landel of Wyckoff, brother Jack Landel and sister, Veronica Landel, maternal Grandparents, Lynn and Walter Rickard of Edison, paternal grandparents, Pamela and Robert Landel of Upper Saddle River, Aunts and Uncles, Laura Leonard and Derek Landel of Ramsey, Susie and Fred Kinch of Westfield and Cristina and Jack Rickard of Cleveland Heights, OH, cousins, Ella and Madigan Landel, Freddy, Charlie and August Kinch and Liam and Jamie Rickard.

We invite you to join us as we honor Ben’s life and legacy from 3:00 to 7:00pm on Friday, February 2 at St. Elizabeth’s RC Church, 700 Wyckoff Ave, Wyckoff, NJ.  A funeral mass celebrating Ben’s Life will be 10:00am on Saturday, February 3 at the St. Elizabeth’s Church.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, Ben asked that donations be made to The Matthew Larson Foundation for Pediatric Brain Cancer, IRON MATT. Donations can be made online at ironmatt.org or by mail to IronMatt, PO Box 836, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417