Ben Leroy Spotts was born on June 7th, 1952, in Fort Morgan, Colorado and passed away at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado on April 4th, 2023, at the age of 70. Ben spent his childhood in Fort Morgan with his parents, Russell D. & Viola Spotts (Smith), and his brother Allan. As a boy, Ben's dream to become a Marine was fulfilled when he graduated from Fort Morgan High School and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1970.

Two weeks before bootcamp, Ben met the love of his life, Claudia Spotts (Shoemaker). Whereas, Claudia's father would not allow Ben to take her for a date until Ben cut his lengthy hair. Shortly after, Ben returned to Claudia's father to present his freshly cut hair to take his daughter on their first date. Ben & Claudia were married February 11th, 1973, in Fort Morgan, Colorado. Out of marriage they had their two children Brad Russell & Kristie Lynn Spotts. This year, Ben & Claudia celebrated their 50th year of marriage together in February.

During Ben's 23-year career in the Marine Corps, he worked as a plane captain on the F-4 Phantom, served several tours overseas, was an aviation maintenance chief, and was a drill instructor for two years at MCRD of San Diego. After being overseas, the family moved to Beaufort, South Carolina where he worked on the F-4 Phantoms again for 4 years. Then, the family moved to Lemoore, California where he worked on, and trained for, the F-18 program as a plane captain until Ben was transferred to El Toro, California and went overseas for over a year. Ben returned to Lemoore until his retirement from the Marine Corps on August 1st, 1993. After retirement, Ben and the family settled in Fort Morgan, Colorado.

Ben worked at the City of Fort Morgan wastewater plant. Then he worked at the Cargill wastewater plant, until he bought & owned the video store, Visions & Tones. Once the video store closed due to new, incoming technologies, Ben retired permanently.

Ben was a strong, loving, but ornery, man who enjoyed reading, fishing, hunting, telling riddles/jokes, and gardening. He also drew cartoons for the Leatherneck magazine and wrote family trees for those who asked. Although he had suffered chronic pain, he kept going no matter what was thrown his way. Ben was given the nicknames 'Benjo' and 'The Great Spottstini' by his great friend Ross Baxter, and the names stuck for the rest of his life.

Ben was survived by his wife Claudia Spotts (Shoemaker), his two children Brad Russell Spotts, & Kristie Lynn Spotts Cobbley of Fort Morgan, Colorado. His five grandchildren, Brittany (Brandon) Richards of Sterling, Colorado; Kortney Cobbley, Kaitlyn Shriver, Kylie Spotts, & Kaleb Schrock of Fort Morgan, Colorado. As well as three great grandsons Zayden, Zander, & Zayne Richards of Sterling, Colorado. Also, his sister in-law, Marilynn Spotts of Imperial Beach, California; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Rick & Brenda Shoemaker of North Carolina; his fur baby, Charlie Brown; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Ben was preceded in death by his parents, Russell D. & Viola Spotts (Smith) of Fort Morgan, Colorado. His one brother, Allan D. Spotts of Imperial Beach, California, recently passed February 14th, 2023. As well as Ben's father & mother in-law Claude & Bonnie Shoemaker (Lamar).

A celebration of Ben's life will be held with military honors in mid to late spring of 2023.