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Ben Featherston -
Ben and Brit Featherston -
Amy, Ben, Brit and Anna Featherston
Days before the anniversary of his 19-year-old son’s sudden death at the hands of an unknown ailment, local U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston revealed plans in the works at Lamar University for a communal campus building in honor of the late Ben Featherston.
In a wide-ranging interview covering everything from his legal work to his family, Featherston told The Examiner of Lamar University’s plans to construct a building “for all Southeast Texans.”
“Very generous people, and I’m hesitant to name names because there’s a lot of generous people, went to Lamar University,” Featherston said when asked about a soon-to-be realized memorial for his son at the campus. Explaining it as the vision of Regina Rogers, “She sought to build a memorial in Ben’s name. Ben had gone to Lamar as a high school student and had 30 hours of Lamar University credit. So, he graduated (high school) as a sophomore in college, so we can claim he’s a Lamar Cardinal, and we do proudly claim him as a Lamar Cardinal.”
The university is just now in the design and funding phase of the memorial, saying it will be a tranquil place Lamar students and Southeast Texas citizens may access, Featherston said, expounding, “A peaceful place to reflect on the things that, I think, Ben represented. He was very accepting to all people. He believed in serving others. He believed in helping those who needed help. So, I think the goal is as a location for people to find peace – who are maybe dealing with issues and just need to find a place to go sit and realize that things are ok.
“That’s kinda the way Amy and I see it, as a reflection of Ben. Hopefully it will be a place for everyone in Southeast Texas to visit and realize that there’s a beautiful world out there and, really, people are good and kind, and they’re willing to help each other.”
Ben-inspired scholarships
The proud father told The Examiner other generous benefactors established a few scholarship funds to uplift other students of his ilk.
“There were already scholarships set up by very generous people who wanted to do something in Ben’s name for other kids,” Featherston said. “A couple, Brian and Deana Wood, set up a scholarship at The University of Texas called the Forty Acre Scholarship. It’s a four-year scholarship for UT. It’s a very nice, generous scholarship that these people set up. (UT) manages it, and it’s set up in the teaching field.”
Mentioning another Ben-inspired scholarship, Featherston said those awarded to Lumberton High School students require the same well-roundedness his son displayed while enrolled there. The scholarship asks potential recipients to share Ben’s unbridled kindness, studiousness and earnest approach to life, Featherston emphasized.
“It looks for somebody who is not only well-rounded in a sense that serves the community, is nice and good to people and also has an active background. And the scholarship is not just for academics,” he said, explaining that the scholarship would fund all manner of school-to-workforce undertakings, such as trade schools or two-year degrees.
“Everyone’s got a place, and that fits how Ben was.”
‘Between hell and hallelujah’
While some onlookers admit feeling trepidation when considering whether to approach the grieving father with stories or questions about his late son, Featherston wholly welcomes any such discussion, remarking, “I appreciate people asking – because that’s the way he sort of lives in us.”
Passersby frequently tell Featherston stories about Ben he hadn’t heard. The tales always revolved around how Ben helped another student through a class, or how he never failed to lend a helping hand.
“As parents, you don’t always see all sides of your child,” Featherston said. “So, it’s been a real blessing to know that … he was a good kid, a guy with a lot of heart, with a very big world vision.”
One of the best compliments he or his wife have received was simply the fact that their son offered love and kindness without pretense: “He liked you for who you were,” his father summed through a few intermittent tears.
“Wynonna Judd, somewhere she used this phrase, ‘Somewhere between hell and hallelujah,’ and … we’re working toward the hallelujah,” he told the paper. “We’re a family of faith. We believe that God has a plan. The hell part will get better over time because we were so blessed to have him.
“If you said, ‘Well, Brit, you can have Ben for 19 years – or not.’ Well, I’d take 19 years in a minute,” the father continued. “I wouldn’t trade it, wouldn’t change it.”