Ben Hernandez Calderoni passed away on the morning of Monday, February 24, 2025 at the age of 87.

Born in Brownsville, Texas November 19, 1937 to Maria Calderoni Yturria and Enrique Hernandez Garcia, Ben was educated at St. Joseph's Academy in Brownsville and Allen Military Academy in Bryan. He was named after his paternal grandfather, the renowned medical doctor, Don Benito Hernandez of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Ben and his identical twin brother Joe, graduated from St. Joseph's Academy in 1955 and shared the honor of Valedictorian having achieved identical grades. Ben and Joe were actively involved in all kinds of sports as they grew up and at the age of six were competing against each other in the National Junior Golden Gloves competitions.

Ben graduated from the University of Texas with a BBA degree in 1964 majoring in Industrial Engineering. While there he met Merry Tuggle when he parked her car while she ran in to pay a pile of overdue parking tickets. Later, through Merry's brother, they got together and the rest is history, with their marrying in Austin.

Ben served in the US Marine Corps at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California from 1962 to 1964 when he took time away from university before returning to complete his degree.

Ben and Merry moved to Venezuela the next year where he became the head of Human Resources for the Gulf Oil Corporation, situated in San Tome. During this time Merry returned to her parents' home in Texas to deliver their daughter, Crystal. Later they moved to Maracaibo where he was employed by Occidental Petroleum.

Following these terms of employment in the energy sector, the Calderoni's returned to Texas, to Houston where over a span of many years Ben and Merry were involved in establishing and operating a series of businesses ranging from portable toilets to restaurants to clothing.

While Crystal was still a young child, Merry brought her to San Miguel de Allende so they both could attend art programs, with Merry studying at the Instituto Allende. Ben didn't come to visit San Miguel until later. He fell in love with the Malanquin golf course and purchased what became Casa Calderoni on Callejon Pueblito. Merry decorated each room representing a different artist and this was where Ben enjoyed greeting guests over breakfast each morning.

Upon arriving in San Miguel, Ben immediately became involved in the local real estate scene and eventually opened his own Calderoni Properties real estate firm which brokered some of the major commercial developments in the early 2000s. One was the property of the historic hotel Villa Jacaranda that was transformed into the prestigious and world-renowned 5-star Hotel Matilda.

Another was representing the sellers for the historic 14-acre former Aristos Hotel site and subsequently obtaining all of the permits required to resell the property which was developed into the Artesana Villas and the 5-star Hotel Rosewood San Miguel.

Ben was an avid and skillful golfer and loved playing at the Malanquin Golf Club as often as he could right up until his recent illness.

A Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date.

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