Joseph Ben-Ur

In Loving Memory of Joseph Ben-Ur Dr. Joseph Ben-Ur was born in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 3, 1940, the son of Moshe and Flora Kiflawi (Yehuda), and passed away on May 7, 2023. He was a full professor and much-loved mentor at the University of Houston at Victoria (UHV), where he served 23 years as professor and twice as president of the Faculty Senate. Always looking out for the best interests of all his colleagues, students, and community, Joseph received the UHV Distinguished Faculty Service Award and was named the fourth Professor Emeritus of the university. Then-UHV-President Bob Glenn said, "His work has made a lasting impact on our university." He earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and Master of Business Administration at Hebrew University and Doctor of Philosophy in marketing, with research on buyer-seller relationships, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He published scholarly articles in political marketing, chaired sessions in international conferences, and was a senior editor for the Journal of Political Marketing. Joseph had a keen curiosity about the world and loved to share it. Within a few years of his family's move to Israel at age 10, he and his brother Abe pursued a decade-long passion for designing and building free-flight model aircraft for national competitions and world championships; Joseph mentored many aero modelers older than himself along the way. He studied physics and mathematics before focusing on economics and marketing. And Joseph sparked delightful adventures with his daughters and granddaughters-from soda-can-propeller-boat science fair projects and everyday paper airplanes, to "the car will decide the direction" drives, to stories from his Iraqi-Jewish childhood. These formative experiences will be missed and remembered. Joseph is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Tamar (Levav); daughters Nurit and Ela Ben-Ur; granddaughters Maia and Dalia Katz; brother Abe Karem; and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded by his brothers Isaac and Jacob Kiflawi. A graveside service will be held this Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at 1pm at Austin Memorial Park. A livestream of the service will appear on the Austin Natural Funerals Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AustinNaturalFunerals a few minutes before 1 pm. A Facebook account is not required to watch. If a pop-up window appears asking you to log in click "not now" and the live stream will be available for you to watch. If the "not now" button does not appear, scroll down on the page and it will come up for you to select. In lieu of flowers, we appreciate donations to the wonderful Children's Discovery Museum in Victoria, TX. or the charity of your choice.

Joseph Ben-Ur

March 3, 1940 - May 7, 2023