Former CT Radio Newsman Killed In Motorcycle Crash

CONNECTICUT — A Maine man with close ties to eastern Connecticut was killed in a motorcycle crash in Maryland last Friday, with a memorial service slated for Thursday in Willimantic.

According to a Facebook page set up by the family, Benjamin Stern, 44, hailed from Rockwood, Maine, and was a longtime U.S. Border Patrol agent who first was a radio newsman.

Prior to working for the federal government, Stern was a radio journalist in Putnam, home to WINY, and Willimantic, home to WILI, according to Stern's obituary posted on Facebook. He later worked at a Winchester, Va., radio station.

He was a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic.

After his radio career, Stern was a U.S. Border Patrol agent for 16 years, graduating from the service’s academy in 2007 and serving his first post in Laredo, Texas.

He then worked at the U.S. Border Patrol's Jackman, Maine, station where he worked for 14 years.
According to his Facebook obituary, he was born in Belleville, N.J., and grew up in Pompano Beach, Fla., and Ashford in eastern Connecticut.

Stern is survived by his 17-year-old child, Billie Stern of Mansfield; his partner, Rebecca Himes and her son Natas of Frederick County, Md.; Benjamin Stern’s parents, Paul and Bette Day Stern, also of Mansfield; his sister and her husband, Amanda and Keith Stern-Pirlot and their children Lilly and Clara of Costa Rica; his sister Rebecca Stern and her partner Smokey Nelson of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and his ex-wife Sarah Stern of Mansfield.

According to Stern's obituary on Facebook, Stern’s relatives will receive visitors Thursday, June 2, at Potter’s Funeral Home, 456 Jackson St., Willimantic, from 4 to 6 p.m.

To see Benjamin Stern's obituary, click on this link.