Soldier killed in Iraq to be inducted in Vermilion High School Hall of Fame

VERMILION — Benjamin Biskie was the kind of man that might meet a stranger but would leave as a friend. "He would take a Greyhound bus for two hours to Michigan and by the time he got off he'd have the phone numbers of five or six people, he'd know their kids' names, their dogs' names, and he'd stay in touch with them for the rest of his life," remembers his widow, Marcie Biskie Adair. He was hard to forget, too, though she never will. The pair met while they were seasonal workers at Cedar Point the summer after he graduated from Vermilion High School in 1994. Within a few years they were married, and living in Missouri at Fort Leonard Wood, where Biskie was an Army sergeant. He had planned to make it a career, enjoying his job "building bridges and blowing them up" in the engineer battalion. And then one Christmas Eve he died when his vehicle hit an IED on a roadside in Iraq. He and other soldiers were headed back to camp that day after attending a meeting about the unit's plan to head back to the United States. It was 2003, six days before the Biskies' eighth anniversary. Their son, Ben Jr., was 6 years old. On Friday, Biskie will be inducted posthumously into the high school's Hall of Fame. Marcie and Ben Jr., now 22, will accept on his behalf. The school started the Hall of Fame in 2005 to honor past students or staff members who have made significant success in life or contributions to the district — or both. There are currently 62 inductees and plaques on display in the school bear their images and brief biographical information, said Brenda Adkins, administrative assistant to the Principal Lisa Deliz. Nominations are received, usually by family, but also sometimes from former teachers, and selected by the Hall of Fame committee in fall and chosen members are inducted during basketball season. Biskie will be inducted along with David Thomas Strittmather, class of 1977, a local business owner and active member of the Sons of AMVETs. Biskie and Adair, who live in Michigan, plan to arrive in the area early to visit the Amherst Veterans Mural, the 70-foot artwork in downtown Amherst that depicts four different wars. Biskie Sr. is one of 12 Lorain County soldiers and sailors who died in battle featured in the piece, said Barb Smith, a member of the mural association. He is depicted sitting in the turret of a mine-resistant ambush protected tactical vehicle. Smith, who met Adair in the past when she sought the family's permission to include Biskie in the mural, said Biskie invited the Smiths to attend the dinner for the families prior to Friday's induction. His widow was briefly remarried but has since divorced. Biskie's parents have long since moved away from Ohio. "Being a daddy was one of his favorite things," Adair said. "And Ben is amazing. He's not quite as outgoing as his dad, but he's just a really, really good guy. He's very smart. He has his dad's smile, his dad's eyes. "You've got to be proud that he's not forgotten. That's the biggest thing," she said. Contact Rini Jeffers at (440) 329-7155 or rinijeffers@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @RiniJeffers. This text has been changed to correct the location of the Amherst Veterans Memorial.