WOBURN - It was June 19, Fathers Day, when former Woburn resident, Jonathon Huxtable was faced with the unimaginable. Participating in what had become a normal Sunday ritual, Jon and his 4-year-old son, Benjamin, headed off to Orchard Park Fields in Lutherville, Md., for one of his Recreation Council's over-30 league baseball games.

During pre-game warm-ups, the baseball-infatuated Benjamin would stand behind Jon and collect any errant balls.

"He'd always say, 'Daddy, I'm going to back you up, and he'd stand behind me," Huxtable said. "Sometimes I'd let a ball get by so he could field it himself. But this time that ball was thrown too high for me to catch, and he was looking somewhere else (and didn't see it coming). We all yelled at him, but it hit him square in the chest."

"He just said, 'Daddy,' and he looked at me kind of in shock, then he came to me and collapsed in my arms," Huxtable recalled in a tearful voice.

That was the last word Benjamin spoke. He was rushed to Greater Baltimore Medical Center, and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

Jonathon spent the years of his youth roaming the ball fields of Woburn, playing for the high school and later at Haverford College.

He worked each summer for the city's Recreation Department, diligently making sure the Golden, Green Street and North Woburn pools were in tip top shape, all while helping oversee the different summer Recreation programs around the city.

Jon moved to Glen Arm, Md., a few years back with his wife, Christine, and two sons, Benjamin and now, 2-year-old Nathaniel, to be closer to his wife's family.

He took with him that spirit and devotion that so many of us have for the Boston Red Sox, and Benjamin and Nathaniel were following suit.

Benjamin was just a little too young to stay up for the games as the Sox made their drive to that World Series championship last season, so Benjamin insisted his Dad tape the ending of each game so he could watch them in the morning.

"His greatest joy in life was baseball - he lived it and breathed it," said Huxtable.

"Ben was a joy, a delight," his father said. "He had a passion for life and baseball, and he was tremendously polite and energetic and spread delight to all who knew him. One of the things we thought about was how to best carry on the joy he brought to us."

The Huxtable family is honoring Ben's memory with Ben's Ball Field Fund, in hopes of building a new baseball field in his name.

"On July 22, my friend Jack (Plante), my dog, Harpua, and I are setting off on a 30- mile hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in Ben's memory," said Sean Conway, a former Woburn resident and friend of Huxtable. "We are accepting donations to help the Huxtables' in honoring Ben."

Donations can be made to the Ben's Ball Field Fund at Danversbank in Woburn. Checks should be made out to "Ben's Ball Field Fund."

Donations will be accepted in person or by mailing to Ben's Ball Field Fund, Danversbank, 400 West Cummings Park, Woburn, Mass. 01801. A total of 100 percent of all donations will go directly to the Ben's Ball Field Fund.

To reach Conway, email: conweigh77@yahoo.com.