Our beloved friend, brother, son, uncle, cousin, and godfather, Ivan Benin, was taken from us too soon at the age of 37 years old on May 25th, 2022. Ivan's lifelong journey was anything but easy dealing with heart problems since birth, but he always managed to find the strength to be there for others and make them laugh. He leaves behind his mother, brother, and two sisters.

Ivan brought so much love, laughter, and now life lessons to everyone who was blessed to know him. Ivan enjoyed a good laugh and was always silly. From his custom memes, random “I love you”s or “hey ugly” texts, he always made us laugh and made sure we knew he loved us. He was always the life of the party up until he passed out, and then we would start messing with him and take funny pics. lol 

Ivan was passionate about 90's R&B, sneakers, fashion, his loved ones, making everyone laugh and reminding us that life is too short and that he loved us, always. He loved wholeheartedly and unconditionally, even if he was left with little for himself.

Ivan was selfless when it came to loving people and always made sure that everyone was okay even if he was dealing with major things he didn't want us to know—in a way, we feel he knew something was wrong but he wanted to know he loved us every day in case something happened.

Though Ivan was taken from us too soon, we know he isn't suffering or worrying anymore. His life will live on through the impact and life lessons we gained from him, and the memories and laughs we shared. He will be deeply missed, and some things will never feel the same without him.

Ivan wanted to just feel "normal" and it saddens me as I write this because a lot of us take "normal" for granted. I'm honor of Ivan, we are making it our mission and goal to achieve the things he wanted to do and practice better self-care. We should try not to forget to live life to the fullest, or be so consumed by our day to day grind that we forget to make time for our loved ones and ourselves.

This fundraiser is put together by his closest friends to assist his family with support for funeral arrangements, hospital bills or any financial debt he may have left behind. Any donations big or small will be much appreciated.

Please share this page with others that may have known him or anyone that would like to donate to this unfortunate cause. His legacy will live on as we take in all the lessons, love and laughter he bestowed on us, and share the same type of love and energy with one another.

God bless everyone and thank you for taking the time to read, share or donate to this fundraiser for our beloved brother, Ivan and his family.