In Memory of Benjamin H. Mulkey

Benjamin H. Mulkey, FSA 1979, MAAA passed away on February 8, 2019 at the age of 72 at his home in Lafayette, California.

Ben was born on January 10, 1947 in Boise, Idaho. His family moved to Sacramento, California when Ben was a year old, and he would call Sacramento his home until 1984. Ben earned a B.A. and M.A. in Mathematics at Sacramento State in 1968 and 1970, following up with intermittent graduate work at UC Berkeley 1971-75.

On May 14, 1979 Ben’s Fellowship was conferred upon him. Every subsequent year on that date, his family celebrated his “Actuarial Birthday.” Ben worked as a health insurance actuary for almost 35 years, first at Cal Western Life Insurance Company in Sacramento (1975-1984), then for American General Group Insurance Company in Dallas, Texas as Chief Actuary of consolidated American General Group insurance operations. His next position was at UNUM Life Insurance Company in Portland, Maine. In 1988 Ben made his west coast family very happy by taking a consulting position with Tillinghast, in California. Later, he worked for Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente, then as a self-employed actuarial consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Although Ben greatly enjoyed baseball, mathematics (especially differential geometry), and classical music, his most precious interest was his family. He was a doting father to Erica and a giddy grandfather about Leo, who was born in 2016.

Ben leaves behind his wife Kathryn “Kat” of 39 years, daughter Erica Mulkey, beloved grandson Leo Mulkey, and sisters Madge Mulkey, Martha Cowell, and Marian Mulkey.

There are no memorial plans.