Benjamin George Usher

Benjamin George Usher (“Ben”), age 93, of Columbia, Maryland and Delray Beach, Florida, died peacefully on November 3, at Brooke Grove, Sandy Spring, MD.

Ben was born January 18, 1929, the youngest of three children of James Michael and Viola Seipp Usher in Baltimore County, Maryland. He was schooled by the sisters of Saint Joseph of Chestnut Hill at All Saints’ School in Baltimore and by the Jesuits at Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Maryland. He earned his undergraduate degree and Juris Doctor degree at the University of Baltimore and was admitted to the practice of law in Maryland in 1953. He was subsequently admitted to the DC bar, the bar of the state of Florida and, in 1966, was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

After service in the U.S. Navy during the Korean conflict, Ben briefly practiced law in Baltimore and in Catonsville, Maryland. He then joined the staff of the Solicitor of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor where he pioneered in the enforcement of laws that enriched the lives and welfare of working women and others considered “minorities” among the workforce; he prosecuted such laws as the equal-pay-for-equal-work laws, minimum wage laws, anti-discrimination legislation, safety & health regulations and the like. In early 1972, Ben was appointed to the Federal Administrative Judiciary. He served in that capacity in Los Angeles and Fresno, California and in New York and Washington, DC. He served as President of the Federal Administrative Law Judges’ Conference in 1981 and retired from Federal service in January 1995, as Chief Judge at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Upon retirement, Ben studied for the bar in Florida and was admitted to practice there in 1995. For several years, he represented only pro bono clients who sought disability benefits as the result of the devastating infirmities brought on by the HIV/AIDS scourge of the time, and he was rewarded with successfully alleviating the financial plights of many.

In 1995 he reverted to his teenage passion of bicycling and, for several years in his early-seventies, rode the 264-mile bike ride from Orlando to Miami Beach to raise money for HIV/AIDS research. Thereafter, when he was in his mid-to-late seventies, he bicycled in Ireland, England, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand.

Ben was married to Lorelei Stevenson of Catonsville in 1961; regrettably, that marriage ended in divorce in 1985, and Lorelei predeceased him in 2014. In 1991 he married Madeleine Belanger of Ottawa, Canada, who predeceased him in 2006. Three children from his first marriage survive: Cynthia Ann Usher of Columbia, MD, Brian Michael Usher of Laurel, MD and Barry Michael Usher of Laurel, MT; as well as his daughters-in-law, Eileen and AnnMarie. Ben always insisted that the joy of his life – surpassing all his accomplishments and untold blessings – are his seven grandchildren: Megan Michelle, Wendy Elizabeth, Joseph Michael, Timothy Robert (Meg), Daniel Patrick, Nicholas Ryan and Hannah Marie; his grandson-in law, Christopher John McKee and his great-grandson Oliver Louis McKee.

Family and friends may call at Candle Light Funeral Home, 1835 Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD on Wednesday, November 9, from 1pm-3pm and 5pm-7pm. A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint Mark Chapel, 30 Melvin Avenue, Catonsville, MD on Thursday, November 10 at 10AM. Interment will follow immediately thereafter at New Cathedral Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland. It was Ben’s specific request that contributions in his memory be made to: Family Promise of South Palm Beach County, 112 SE 10th Street, Delray Beach, FL 33483