Weatherford - Former Parker County Judge Ben Harvey Long Jr., age 93, passed away August 27, 2026. Ben was born to Benjamin Harvey and Carrie Mae Long on April 17, 1933, in the front bedroom of their home in Weatherford, Texas, and departed from this life at his home—less than a mile from where he was born.

Ben graduated from Weatherford High School and Weatherford College and attended Texas Christian University. He met the former Dora "Dodie" Farquhar through a pen pal ad in a popular farm magazine, and they married September 11, 1953. He was drafted into the United States Army and was stationed in El Paso and then in Alaska as a section chief with an anti-aircraft company.

Upon returning to Texas, Ben and Dora went into the dairy business with his parents. He was a deacon and Sunday School teacher at Friendship Baptist Church. He also taught a Sunday School class at First Baptist Church and Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church.

Ben was active in state and farm organizations. He helped start the Farm Bureau in Parker County and also helped set up a program to help eradicate screwworms in Texas.

Ben served as chairman of the Parker County Republican Party for many years. In 1992, he was appointed to fill an unexpired term as Parker County Judge, becoming the first countywide elected Republican official since the Civil War. In 1994, Judge Long was re-elected as Parker County Judge. To this day, people fondly remember Judge Long as being compassionate and kind during the probate of their families' wills.

In 2001, BenDora Dairy LLC relocated to Amherst, Texas, where sons Roy and Mark Long managed the dairy while Ben and Dora raised heifers and hay in Weatherford for the dairy. After the dairy was sold, Ben and Dora went into the Angus cow business—selling the herd in 2025.

Ben was preceded in death by his parents, Benjamin Harvey and Carrie Mae Long; his sister, Lois Mae (Long) Schatzel; and his niece, Patricia Anne Taylor.

Ben is survived by his wife, Dora; children, Karen Wilkinson (Joe), Ben Roy Long, Vickie Combs, Mark Long (Jamee), and Scott Long; grandchildren, Sara Vick (Scott), Quinn Dobbs (Katie), Chelsea Gamron (Tony), Will Dobbs (Kaci), Amanda Keas (Justin), Betsy Hensley (Travis), Benna Bland, Candice Walker (Daniel), John Long (Garrison), and Justin Long (Savannah); great-grandchildren, Frederick and Grant Vick, Audrey and Avery Keas, Harlee Bland, Reese Gamron, Benjamin, Joshua and Matthew Walker, Tayler Conner, Eleanor and Quinn Dobbs, Henry and Lucy Dobbs, Spence and Hattie Hensley, Evans and Ellison Long, and Kirkland and Sullivan Long; niece, Carrie Nola Kulig (Alan); and great-niece, Olivia Grace Kulig.

Visitation for family and friends will be from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at the Galbreaith Pickard Funeral Chapel, 913 North Elm Street, Weatherford, Texas 76086.

A funeral ceremony will be held at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at the Friendship Baptist Church, located at 801 Friendship Road, Weatherford, Texas 76085. Burial will follow at Memory Gardens of the Valley Cemetery in Weatherford.