The Ohio native was serving in sacramental ministry in Appleton at the time of his death
APPLETON — Capuchin Fr. Benjamin “Ben” Ray Markwell died on Sept. 30 at St. Fidelis Friary in Appleton. He was 86.
Fr. Markwell was born on Jan. 23, 1938, in Middletown, Ohio, to Jay Barbour Markwell and Helen Bond (Dinger) Markwell Sparks. He grew up with his twin brother, George, and their siblings Ken, Barbara and Kay Ann.
In 1950, his mother, Helen, gave her twin sons the option of attending a boarding school in Kentucky or Boys Town in Omaha, Neb. Boys Town seemed “much more adventurous” to the brothers, so they spent the next six years there, from 1950 to 1956.
Both excelled academically, participated in sports, and found a love for drama and choir. They even toured with Boys Town’s choir, performing in places such as Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City’s Carnegie Hall.
After graduating from Boys Town, Fr. Markwell entered St. Lawrence Seminary in Mount Calvary, Wis., for his first two years of college, where he became a Third Order member. On his application to become a Capuchin friar he wrote: “I believe that it is the most perfect way to follow Christ.”
In 1958, he entered the novitiate at Sacred Heart Friary in Baraga, Mich., where he was invested with the Capuchin habit on Aug. 31. He professed his first vows on Sept. 1, 1959, taking the religious name “Dacian.”
His clerical studies continued at St. Felix Friary in Huntington, Ind., and St. Mary Seminary in Crown Point, Ind., before moving to St. Anthony Friary in Marathon, Wis., where he completed his studies from 1962 to 1966. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Frederick Freking of La Crosse.
Fr. Markwell’s first assignment was as retreat master and Third Order director at Our Lady Queen of Angels Retreat in Saginaw, Mich. A year later, he was transferred to Christian Friendship House in St. Clair, Mich., where he spent the next decade conducting retreats for high school and college students.
In 1977, Fr. Markwell earned a master’s degree in Christian spirituality from Creighton University in Omaha. From 1978 to 1983, he pursued further studies at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, while also assisting at St. John the Apostle Parish.
In 1983, Fr. Markwell took on the role of campus minister at Wayne State University in Detroit, a position he held for four years. He spent summers ministering in the Middle East and on the island and U.S. territory of Guam and led numerous retreats for religious sisters and married couples.
In August 1987, Fr. Markwell entered full-time preaching ministry, a role he embraced until 1997, while living in San Lazzaro and St. Charles Friaries in Detroit.
From 1997 to 2018, his ministry took him to the Middle East, where he served foreign workers in the oil camps. Upon his return to the United States, he entered pastoral ministry at Casa San José in Tucson, Ariz., for a year. Eventually, he moved to Florida to live with his brother, Fr. George Markwell, a member of the Missionaries of Africa in St. Petersburg.
In 2023, Fr. Markwell moved to St. Fidelis Friary where he became an active member of the community, offering his services in sacramental ministry. On Sept. 30, after leading prayer for the community, he returned to his room, where he died unexpectedly.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Jay Barbour Markwell and Helen (Dinger) Markwell Sparks, and his siblings, Kenneth Markwell and Kay Ann Hartman.
He is survived by his siblings, Fr. George Markwell and Barbara Markwell, and his Capuchin brothers, with whom he shared a life of prayer and ministry for six decades.
The funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, Oct. 10, at the St. Lawrence Seminary Chapel in Mount Calvary. Burial will follow in the St. Lawrence Friary Cemetery in Mount Calvary.