Benjamin Trumble

On August 18th, 2019, Benjamin ‶Ben″ Edison Trumble, world traveler and most-likely-to-sneak-a-snake-on-a-plane, passed surrounded by friends and loved ones.

Ben was born on June 1, 1956 to Francis and Nancy Trumble in Elmira, New York, and grew up in Millport. An avid herpetologist, Ben worked at the Bronx Zoo before serving with the Peace Corps where he worked in agricultural sectors on the coastal villages outside Tela, Honduras. Back in the US Ben established his lifelong connections to zoos and circuses, as later documented in his A Mudshow Season blog , where he traveled for several seasons as an assistant manager for Carson & Barnes, Culpepper & Merriweather, and Kelly Miller, the big three of America❜s surviving tent circuses. Following the birth of his son Robin in 1994, Ben settled in California where he became an Internet pioneer, helping to set up Sports Illustrated❜s website and producing live internet events for the Sci-Fi Channel and People Magazine. Ben was also the owner of Slow Burn, a chili shop on Monterey❜s Cannery Row. Returning to the Southern Tier in 2010, Ben spent nearly a decade working at Cinemapolis in downtown Ithaca, which became his home away from home, and he will be missed by the many who came to know him.

Ben leaves his son Robin, brothers Lew and Jon, Lew❜s partner Ed, Jon❜s wife Keti and daughter Mariam, his partner Sarolta, as well as close friends too numerous to count. His legacy survives in the memories of so many people who came to know his kind heart and natural charm and for whom Ben was a friendly smile and kind companion in a variety of circles and settings across the globe. Adventurer, scientist, mentor, and bard, he leaves a hole in the lives of all he touched that will be impossible to fill. A celebration of Ben❜s life will be held on September 2, 2019 from 2:00-8:00 pm at Cinemapolis in Ithaca, open for any friends and family.

‶Lights, popcorn, the roar of the crowd;
The lions, the tigers, the elephant bows,
The hat of the showman tips low as he grins,
For the act may be over – but now the story begins.
Our love for him will never be gone-
In the circus ring, the show must go on.″

Love you Dad.