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Benjamin J. Ranes
Obituary's Biography:
Benjamin J. Ranes, age 33, a resident of Round Lake, IL passed away on July 16, 2024 at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, IL. He was born on December 21, 1990 in Lagrange, IL to Lawrence and Elizabeth (nee Fick) Ranes.
When he was young, Ben’s family thought he would be a diplomat. He was good at keeping the peace. Ben had other dreams; he wanted to be a zebra.
Always unapologetically himself, Ben’s wardrobe was filled with colorful Hawaiian shirts. A connoisseur of words, he enjoyed writing and world building, creating elaborate stories often featuring his friends and loved ones. While his friends are spread around the country, Ben loved staying in contact with them however he could, and did his best to be the “glue” and gather them together for fun and board games. He was always there for his friends and family, although he would have been too humble to say as much. In his spare time, Ben kept sharp by assembling and displaying building sets, solving puzzles in video games, and even helping his family with their own word puzzle games. Despite his claims of hating word puzzle games, Ben was quite good at them.
Words alone do not adequately describe Ben; although, if anyone was able to do so, it would have been Ben. Put simply, Ben was the kind of person who enriched your life by simply knowing him, and he is, and will forever be, sorely missed.
Benjamin is survived by his parents, Lawrence and Elizabeth Ranes; and his siblings, Christopher (Phylicia) of Zion and Meghan of Round Lake.
A memorial visitation and service will be held at Strang Funeral Chapel, 410 E Belvidere Road, Grayslake, IL 60030 on Saturday, July 27, 2024 from 3pm until 4pm, with a memorial service commencing at 4pm. Interment will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association in honor of Benjamin. For more information, please call (847)223-8122 or visit www.StrangFuneral.org.
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Ben was brilliant, hilarious, thoughtful, and so much fun to be around!
I was one of the many people who experienced and enjoyed some of the many wondrous stories Ben would weave. It was my honor to know him, and the worlds he made will live on through each person he touched with them.
Although I wanted to stand and speak, I wasn’t able to at Ben’s memorial because I was too overwhelmed by everyone else’s stories. I would not have been able to make it through even a short story of what Ben meant to me without breaking down. Ben started at Bass Pro one week after me in November 2019. He worked for me for 3 years then moved to receiving and then inventory control. I trained him on everything for the first few years then he trained me on everything receiving and inventory after that.
I will always remember his quick wit and his dry humor.
Whenever I had a question for him about how to obtain information from computer reports or how to use RF guns, etc., he always knew the systems weren’t always accurate, but knew how to get around it.
Every question I ever asked him resulted with his usual response of “Well, in theory…”. I will always remember that about him. He always knew there was no good answer, but he knew how to make it happen.
Ben was a true believer of being your own person. I feel honored to have known him.
I couldn’t say anything at the time, but there was so much I wanted to say.
Ben was my first genuine friend when I moved to Illinois. I met him my first day of freshman year at Grant. Prior to living here, I moved all around which made it difficult to make friends. As such, I became soft spoken and reserved. The very first conversation we had, I asked if he could lead me to my french class as I was very lost. He sarcastically agreed and it’s been a lifelong friendship ever since. Time gets in the way and life becomes a roller coaster, and I’ve drifted in and out of people’s lives. Ben was always a person I could just start talking to and feel like we’ve never lost any time.
Ben has certainly helped me through rough patches. He probably was one of the only people to hear some of my complaints. He had my trust and I knew he would give advice earnestly. I don’t know where I would be without meeting him so long ago. I could still be lost in the halls at Grant, searching for that french class. He’s probably the reason why I stuck to french all 4 years in high school. He became a keystone in my close knit group of friends.
The very last time I talked to him was over Discord on the 25th. He told me he got stabbed and it was super painful. That he wasn’t a fan because it was so rude to be prescribed that. But, saying that he was as fine as he could be days before a “hyper-invasive surgery”. Then he asked me how I was. I was scared with him saying he got “stabbed” for the surgery prep, but he played the entirely thing off like nothing as he was more concerned with how I was. That is him in a nutshell.
I’m going to miss my friend. Ben was always there when I needed someone to talk to, someone to knock some sense into me, or someone to be sarcastically disappointed. My first and last conversations with him were nothing more than small talk, but they have both drastically changed the state of my life. I am so grateful to be his friend and saddened that now, he won’t be able to fulfill his promise of singing “Ça m’énerve” at my wedding one day.
To the one who never lost sight of friendship, bonne nuit.