With great sadness I need to let all know of the passing of my good friend Joel Baumgarten (Benz).
Joel suddenly passed away while on the phone with a cousin. The cousin heard him collapse on the floor and could hear him breathing so he hung up and called a neighbor of Joel's telling him Joel was in trouble. The neighbor called him back in about 5 minutes and Joel had passed on by the time he got there.
Joel and I met through this forum and became as close as brothers as we had a lot in common. I'd visited with him during my last two summer rides on my Harley, with me getting rained in this last year. What was supposed to be a 4-5 day visit turned into a 10 day due to the weather. Hell we didn't see the sun all day on the 4th of July!
He was no stranger to motorcycles. Here's what he called 'The Old Red Hag'. He built it himself. He would later sell it to a nephew:
Attachment 318733
Joel taught himself how to shave and hone with his Grandfather's straight when he was 14. He was a very talented machinist, one who not only had the equipment, but the knowledge on how to rebuild the old Ford Flatheads, however he said it was his father who was the Flathead Guru. He had a very unique way of saying he was getting paid for his work as he'd say "An eagle sh*t a wad on me".
Joel was very proud of his German heritage. He could read, write and speak the German language. He helped a local family when they hosted a female German exchange student. She was very impressed with his antique traditional German Christmas decorations.
He was an avid cast iron enthusiast. He not only had but used his Great Grandmother's, Grandmother's and Mother's iron. During my visit with him last year he insisted that we go to a certain antique shop. While there we found a nice cast iron Dutch Oven and a #5 pan. Joel insisted that I buy them and he'd ship them home for me so I did, Joel shipped them to me N/C. While we were there he found a nice Aladdin Lamp to add to his collection. A few months before I'd stumbled upon a lamp he'd been looking for. He had it cleaned up and on display. He believed in giving credit where credit is due:
Attachment 318726
He even got me started with Aladdin Lamps as I now have 4 of them so I'm ready for any power outages.
Here's a couple of pictures of my friend. The first is him at one of his lathes turning a project. The second of him holding a custom knife a friend made for him.
Attachment 318731
Attachment 318732
Joel had many friends including what he called his 'Harem' which consisted of 'Widders and Divorcees' apparently nothing was 'going on'. He did tell me that they would have him for a breakfast or supper or perhaps bake a pie and bring by. Hell there was even a Mother/Daughter Duo divorcees--
When I was visiting last summer I taught him how to make bread from scratch using his Kitchen Aid and oven instead of a bread machine. He later told me that his Harem were all very impressed that he could now make and bake bread. He said he told them that I'd taught him.
Even though it's daylight and only cool outside, I'll be lighting one of my Aladdin lamps here in a bit. They usually burn for about 4 hours, then I'll light another one and repeat until I finally go to bed.
I was just sent the link to Joel's obituary:
https://www.weigelfuneral.com/obituary/Joel-Baumgarten
Rest In Peace my friend, my brother.
