Biography: Benjamin Clark McMinn, a well-known lawyer and businessman, died April 26, 2025, after a brief illness. He was born to Wilbur Clifford McMinn and Helen Sample Purifoy McMinn on December 30, 1938, in El Dorado, Arkansas, the second of two sons, after his brother Wilbur.
Ben attended public and parochial schools in Little Rock and was a member of the Little Rock Central High Class of 1956. After high school, Ben studied at Tulane University and graduated in 1960 where he was a proud member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and was a "True Gentleman." While at Tulane he spent a summer studying at the University of Guanajuato in Guanajuato, Mexico. Following Tulane, Ben traveled to Madrid, Spain to attend the University of Madrid. After working in banking and construction with his father, he enrolled in the University of Arkansas Law School here in Little Rock and went on to graduate in 1968 from the University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville.
Ben practiced law for over 50 years. Ben's desire to learn was a lifelong passion. He continued his studies by attending Kansai University of Foreign Studies in Hirakata, Japan, where he studied Japanese Language. Many years later, after he turned 60, he traveled to the Soviet Union to study at the Pushkin Institute of Russian Language in Moscow. He also taught English to children in Perm, Russia and to adults engaged in the oil business in Russia and Bulgaria.
Ben is survived by his daughter, Natasha McMinn Marlow and her husband, Cary Patrick Marlow, two grandchildren Miles McMinn Marlow and Miriam " Mimi" Helen Marlow, his brother, Wilbur C. McMinn Jr. (Mickey), niece Cameron McMinn Carey and her husband Michael, nephew W. C. (Willy) McMinn Ill and his wife Christine and niece Catherine Judson McMinn great nieces and nephews, Kelly McMinn, Kylie Hines (lan), Jimmy Carey, Griffin Carey, Elizabeth Carey, Zed Lucas and one great-great niece Saoirse Hines. He was pre-deceased by his former wife Jyothi Rao McMinn and sister-in-law, Joyce Groom McMinn.
Ben was a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, the West Little Rock Rotary Club; The Arkansas Bar Association, The Arkansas Bar Foundation; a member of the Arkansas Supreme Court Client Security Fund Committee; a previous member of the Board of Directors of the Allen School; Easterseals Arkansas, where he served as president; and the National Easterseals Board of Directors.
A memorial service to honor his legacy will be held Thursday, May 15th at 10:30am at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Little Rock.
The Family would like to thank the team at CHI St. Vincent Hospital ICU and the Arkansas Hospice Ottenheimer Inpatient Center at St. Vincent for their loving kindness to Ben in his last days.
In lieu of flowers please send donations to Arkansas Hospice Foundation, 14 Parkstone Circle, North Little Rock AR 72116. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com
My heart goes out to you, Natasha! I know how much you admired and loved your dad. He was so proud of you and you were is brightest love and joy. May the days head surround you in strength.
XO,
Wendy