Benjamin Wheatley Husk

Benjamin "Doc" Husk, age 80, of Morristown, died on Sunday, Jan 6, 2019 from congestive heart failure. Ben was born on January 5, 1939 in Huntington, WV to Stan and Mary Husk. He grew up in Huntington, Cattlesburg, KY and Cleveland, OH. He graduated from East Cleveland High School, where he received many awards for swimming, and immediately enlisted in the United States Navy. He finished at the top of the recruits and chose to be a Corpsman. His first assignment with the Navy was Bethesda Naval Hospital where he met his wife Nancy, who was also enlisted in the Navy.

Ben was subsequently assigned to Barbers Point Naval Air Station (Honolulu, HI), but was soon deployed as a HM Combat Medic attached to the 3rd Marine Division in Vietnam 1965-6. He returned to Southeast Asia in 1968-9 as a Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Corpsman.  He served as an Independent Duty Corpsman (IDC) on four vessels: USS Piedmont, USS Boyd, USS Halsey and the USS Cayuga. He was also stationed at the Navy Operational Support Center (Eugene, OR), North Island Naval Air Station (Coronado, CA), Camp Pendelton, and Balboa Naval Hospital (San Diego,CA). His last duty was as the Administrator of Millington Naval Hospital (Millington, TN), where he retired as Senior Chief Petty Officer in 1979. After retiring from the US Navy, Ben moved to Morristown to be near his late mother-in-law, Edith Pridemore. He earned a degree at Walters State Community College, and was employed by Cemco, Precision Parts, Johnson Machining and Executive Places. He liked the Morristown community life and enjoyed playing golf with his sons. Mostly, Ben was dedicated to helping others. He and Nancy soon found outlets for their missionary zeal and love for all people. They worked in Burkino Faso to help alleviate poverty. Then, they traveled to Belize where they built and helped to administer an orphanage. They moved to Uganda and opened two medical clinics to provide basic medical care to the war torn region. Later, they moved to Fuzine, Croatia where they ran the Peace Center and helped to heal the wounds of war among the people of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia following the Balkan war. For the past 15 years, Ben was a faithful member of the First Baptist Church, Morristown. Previously, while he was a member of Montvue Baptist Church, Ben was instrumental in starting the work with Hispanics. Although neither could speak Spanish, Ben and Nancy were charter members of Iglesia Bautista La Gran Comision, and were instrumental in starting several other Spanish language churches.  He volunteered for many years at Helping Hands. For the past eleven years, Ben has volunteered at Appalachian Outreach of Carson-Newman University where he was responsible for maintaining supplies and helping with the collection and distribution of donations. Ben was preceded in death by his loving wife of 52 years, Nancy Pridemore Husk. Ben is survived by his children Ernest M. Husk, George F. Husk and Ruth A. Hamman; his grandchildren Joshua Shockley, Heather Oliver, Aaron Husk, Preston Husk, Davis Husk, and Spencer Husk; his great-grandchildren Ethan Johnson, Trenton Harris, Sadie Shockley, Benjamin Shockley, Stella Oliver, and Athena Oliver. The family will receive friends at First Baptist Church, Morristown on Friday, January 11 from noon to 2pm. The funeral service will be held at 2pm, with Dr. George Husk, Dr. Dean Haun, and Rev. William Burton officiating. Military graveside services to follow at Hamblen Memory Gardens. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be made to Appalachian Outreach of Carson-Newman University. Arrangements by Westside Chapel Funeral Home in Morristown.

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