Benjamin Saget and the Family Legacy Behind Bob Saget’s Humor and Kindness

American supermarket CEO Benjamin Morton Saget (Ben Saget) focused on business, family, and the unsung duties that rarely garnered recognition. He was best known as the father of comedian, actor, and television personality Robert Lane “Bob” Saget, bornAugust 28, 1917, in Baltimore, Maryland. But his narrative goes beyond that legendary connection. It covers decades of professional duty, a long marriage, losing children, and a unique sense of humor that shaped his son.

Brentwood, Los Angeles, resident Benjamin died on January 30, 2007, at 89. He rose from meat department employment to a top administrative position with Food Fair, a Pennsylvania grocery chain, after 41 years in the sector.

He was not famous. He didn’t appear on TV, write a memoir, or capitalize on his son’s achievement. Instead, Bob’s memories showed him as warmhearted, witty, and completely loyal to his loved ones.

Benjamin is best described by the Yiddish word mensch, which means honest, decent, and gentle. Bob typically portrayed his father as a man who could tell a ridiculous joke and then show compassion. In the comedian’s life and career, that combination stuck.

Benjamin Saget’s Early Life and Family Background

Benjamin was born in Baltimore on August 28, 1917, during a period when many immigrant families were building new lives in American cities. His parents, Isidore Mayer Saget and Jennie Greber Saget, came from Jewish immigrant backgrounds connected to Latvia and Russia.

Isidore’s birthplace is sometimes associated with Latvia, including the town of Varaklani, while Jennie’s early life is linked to Ekaterinoslav in the Russian Empire or a nearby area. Variations in the spelling of family names and places appear in historical records, reflecting the difficulties that immigrant families sometimes encountered when their details were recorded in English.

Benjamin grew up in a family that experienced significant loss. Accounts of his life indicate that he lost four siblings, although detailed information about each sibling remains limited. Such losses likely formed part of the emotional landscape of his early years, though the precise effect on his personality cannot be established from the available biographical details.

Census records place the Saget family in Baltimore in 1920, Detroit, Michigan, in 1930, and Philadelphia by 1940. These changes in residence suggest a childhood shaped by movement between American cities rather than a single permanent hometown.

Family and cultural identity remained important throughout Benjamin’s life. The humor that later became associated with his household was not simply entertainment. In the Saget family, laughter could serve as a small shield against grief, a way to keep people connected when circumstances became difficult.

Basic Information About Benjamin Saget

Benjamin Saget’s Career in the Supermarket Industry

Benjamin built his professional life through the supermarket business, an industry that requires organization, practical judgment, and an understanding of everyday consumer needs.

He reportedly began his career in butchery or meat department work before advancing to a senior position overseeing meat operations at Food Fair. The company operated in Pennsylvania and became associated with the Pantry Pride name during later corporate developments.

His progression from hands-on work to executive responsibility reflects a career built over time. Rather than becoming famous through a single invention or public achievement, Benjamin established himself through long service and professional advancement.

He spent approximately 41 years in the supermarket industry before retiring. That length of service represents a substantial portion of his adult life, spanning periods of economic change, evolving retail practices, and shifting American family life.

His work also influenced where the family lived. Benjamin’s career connected the Sagets to Philadelphia, Norfolk, Virginia, and the Los Angeles area, including Encino. These moves gave the family different experiences of American life while requiring them to adapt to new communities.

For Bob, growing up in a household shaped by his father’s working life meant seeing a parent whose responsibilities extended beyond the home. Benjamin’s career provided practical stability, while his personality offered something less tangible but equally important: an example of how humor and affection could coexist with the demands of adulthood.

There is little reliable public information about specific awards or individual business achievements attributed to Benjamin. His professional legacy is better understood through his longevity, advancement, and the role his work played in supporting his family.

Benjamin Saget and His Wife Rosalyn Dolly Comer

Benjamin married February 12, 1925-born Rosalyn “Dolly” Comer. A Philadelphia marriage license application on August 23, 1943, led to their September 1943 marriage.

They were together for 63 years until Benjamin’s January 2007 death. Dolly died at 89 on February 15, 2014, seven years after him.

Hospital administrator Dolly later became a retired administrative executive assistant at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her work involved healthcare operations and a service-oriented environment.

Benjamin and Dolly raised a family despite professional shifts, relocations, and personal losses. Only three of their five children became adults.

They were devastated by the losses of their twin newborns and daughters Andrea and Gay. The couple’s private grieving process is unknown, but the family’s later memories show that sorrow was a major part of their lives.

Dolly and Benjamin spent their senior years in Brentwood, Los Angeles. Their extended marriage balances Bob Saget’s occasionally wild comic image. A family formed on lasting ties, shared experiences, and perseverance after loss was behind the humor.

Benjamin Saget’s Children and the Family’s Tragedies

The Twin Infants Who Died Young

Benjamin and Dolly had twin infants who died shortly after birth or during early infancy, according to family accounts. Their names and precise dates of death are not consistently documented in the available biographical information.

Bob Saget later referred to siblings he never had the opportunity to know. Although these children were absent from his daily life, their existence formed part of the family’s history.

The loss of infants can leave a lasting mark on parents and siblings, even when the children themselves are known primarily through family memories. In the Saget household, the broader experience of loss became intertwined with a tendency to use humor as a coping mechanism.

Gay Audrey Saget

Gay Audrey Saget, born on January 9, 1947, was Benjamin and Dolly’s eldest surviving daughter. She was also known as Gay Nelson after marriage and worked as a teacher in the Philadelphia area.

Her life changed dramatically when she developed systemic scleroderma, a rare autoimmune condition that can affect the skin, connective tissues, and internal organs. Her symptoms were reportedly misdiagnosed before the disease was identified around 1992, when she was approximately 44 years old.

Gay eventually moved to Los Angeles to live with her parents while receiving care. She died in 1994 at the age of 47.

Her illness became one of the most influential events in Bob’s life. In 1996, he directed For Hope, an ABC television movie starring Dana Delany that was loosely based on Gay’s experience.

Bob also became a dedicated advocate for scleroderma research. Through his fundraising activities and involvement with the Scleroderma Research Foundation, he helped bring attention and financial support to research into the disease.

Gay’s story therefore extended beyond the immediate family. Her experience helped turn personal grief into a public effort to support patients and advance medical research.

Andrea Marcia Andi Saget

Andrea Marcia “Andi” Saget was born on August 30, 1950. She died on September 7, 1984, at the age of 34, from a brain aneurysm in Philadelphia.

Her death was another devastating loss for Benjamin and Dolly. Andi was Bob’s older sister, and her life ended decades before his father and mother passed away.

She was buried at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Trevose, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Her obituary identified her parents and surviving siblings, preserving a small but meaningful record of the family she left behind.

Unlike Bob, Andi did not become a public figure. Information about her personal interests, relationships, and everyday life remains limited. Her place in Benjamin’s biography is nevertheless significant because her death illustrates the repeated grief the family endured.

Robert Lane Bob Saget

Robert Lane “Bob” Saget, born on May 17, 1956, in Philadelphia, was Benjamin’s only son to survive to adulthood. He became an internationally recognized comedian, actor, and television host.

Many viewers knew Bob for playing Danny Tanner, the warm and responsible father on Full House. Others recognized his work hosting America’s Funniest Home Videos or his more adult stand-up comedy, which often featured deliberately crude humor.

The contrast between Bob’s family friendly television persona and his raunchier comedy reflected a quality he associated with his father. Benjamin could be affectionate and respectable while also enjoying bawdy jokes. Bob absorbed that combination and transformed it into a distinctive comedic style.

Bob repeatedly described his father as kind and humorous. He also emphasized the importance of close relationships, an outlook shaped by the family’s experiences of illness and death.

When Benjamin died in 2007, Bob dedicated his HBO comedy special That Ain’t Right to him. The dedication was a personal tribute to the man behind much of his humor and emotional outlook.

Bob later died on January 9, 2022, at the age of 65. His death came on the birthday of his sister Gay, who would have turned 75 that day. The coincidence added another poignant detail to a family history already marked by loss.

Benjamin Saget’s Grandchildren and Extended Family

Benjamin’s grandchildren included Bob’s three daughters from his first marriage to Sherri Kramer. Bob and Sherri married in 1982 and divorced in 1997.

Aubrey Michelle Saget

Aubrey Michelle Saget was born on February 15, 1987. She pursued the visual arts and became known for her work as an artist, painter, and curator.

Her professional path differs from her father’s entertainment career. Rather than building a public identity through comedy or television, she developed her own creative interests and artistic practice.

Lara Melanie Saget

Lara Melanie Saget was born on October 16, 1989. She is an artist and curator whose interests have also included yoga instruction.

Like her sisters, Lara grew up connected to a famous entertainment family while pursuing her own interests. Her work reflects a creative direction distinct from Bob’s career in television and stand-up comedy.

Jennifer Belle Jennie Saget

Jennifer Belle “Jennie” Saget was born on November 18, 1992. She is the youngest of Bob’s three daughters with Sherri Kramer.

Compared with their father, Bob’s daughters have generally maintained more private public profiles. Their family history, however, places them within a multigenerational story of creativity, humor, and close personal relationships.

Bob later married Kelly Rizzo in 2018. They remained married until his death in 2022.

Benjamin’s obituary also mentioned a grandson named Adam. Public details about Adam’s identity and relationship to the wider family are limited, so it is difficult to establish his exact place in the family tree with certainty.

Benjamin Saget’s Parents and Jewish Heritage

Benjamin’s parents were Isidore Mayer Saget and Jennie Greber Saget.

Isidore, whose name also appears with spelling variations such as Isadore and Isideor, was born around 1891 and had roots in Latvia. Jennie was born on January 21, 1899, and died on June 19, 1975, in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Their family history reflects the movement of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe into the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Such families often faced the challenge of preserving cultural traditions while establishing economic security in a new country.

Benjamin’s upbringing in this environment likely contributed to the importance of family and communal bonds in his adult life. Although the precise details of his religious observance are not extensively documented, his Jewish identity and the family’s immigrant background are recurring elements of his biography.

Bob’s use of the word mensch when describing his father offers a particularly revealing glimpse into how that heritage informed his understanding of character. The term communicates more than politeness. It suggests a person whose worth is measured by decency, generosity, and the way he treats others.

Benjamin Saget’s Net Worth and Financial Life

There is no reliable public estimate of Benjamin Saget’s personal net worth. He was a long-serving supermarket executive, not a public investor or celebrity whose financial details were regularly reported.

His approximately 41-year career suggests a stable professional life, and his advancement from meat department work to senior executive responsibility indicates that he achieved considerable experience within his industry.

However, a long career does not provide enough information to calculate personal wealth. There are no sufficiently detailed public records of his salary history, investments, property holdings, savings, or retirement assets to support a precise figure.

His son Bob eventually achieved substantial success through television, film, stand-up comedy, and hosting. That later success should not be confused with Benjamin’s own financial position.

Benjamin’s life is more accurately described through the professional stability he established and the family he supported than through an unverified dollar amount. His most visible legacy was not a fortune or business empire. It was the influence he had on his children, particularly the son who would later make millions of people laugh.

Benjamin Saget’s Final Years and Death

Benjamin spent his later years in Brentwood, Los Angeles, with Dolly. He died on January 30, 2007, from complications of congestive heart failure.

He was 89 years old. His long life had encompassed two world wars, major changes in American retail, the growth of television entertainment, and the transformation of his son into a nationally recognized comedian.

His memorial service took place on February 4, 2007, at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, where he was laid to rest in the Gardens of Ramah.

His obituary remembered him as a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend, describing him as a very great man. The family requested donations to the Scleroderma Research Foundation, reflecting the continuing significance of Gay’s illness and Bob’s advocacy.

Dolly died on February 15, 2014, following complications associated with abdominal cancer. She was 89, and her death brought an end to the lives of a couple whose marriage had lasted more than six decades.

Benjamin’s public story remains relatively quiet. He is remembered mainly through his family, especially Bob’s reflections on a father who treated humor as more than entertainment. It could be a way of surviving hardship, honoring loved ones, and keeping affection alive when words alone were not enough.

Benjamin Saget’s Influence on Bob Saget’s Comedy and Values

The relationship between Benjamin and Bob best explains why the elder Saget is still interesting.

Bob’s comedy used contrasts. He could play a wholesome TV parent while doing daring stand-up. He may start with a ridiculous joke and then tell a touching story about bereavement or family.

He recognized his father’s traits in that area. Benjamin’s raunchy humor showed Bob that comedy could be varied. Irreverence and humor can coexist with emotional sensitivity.

The family’s frequent losses made humor more serious. Laughter may relieve pain without eliminating it. It may keep relatives connected when illness or death threatened the household.

Bob’s belief that family was more important than fame shows Benjamin’s impact. Bob’s accounts of his father focused on everyday situations, intimate humor, and family values despite his fame.

The legacy of Benjamin is like a thread running softly through a greater fabric. He needed not stand onstage. He influenced her with his humor, tenderness, and family focus.

Frequently Asked Questions About Benjamin Saget

Who was Benjamin Saget?

Benjamin Morton Saget was an American supermarket executive born on August 28, 1917, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was best known as the father of comedian and television host Bob Saget and was remembered for his kindness, humor, and long career in the supermarket industry.

How old was Benjamin Saget when he died?

Benjamin was 89 years old when he died on January 30, 2007, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California.

Who was Benjamin Saget’s wife?

His wife was Rosalyn “Dolly” Comer Saget. They married around September 1943 and remained together for approximately 63 years until his death. Dolly worked as a hospital administrator and died in 2014.

How many children did Benjamin Saget have?

Benjamin and Dolly had five children, including twin infants who died young. Their three children who survived to adulthood were Gay Audrey Saget, Andrea Marcia Saget, and Bob Saget.

What did Benjamin Saget do for a living?

Benjamin worked in the supermarket industry for approximately 41 years. He reportedly began in butchery or meat department work and advanced to a senior executive position associated with the meat operations of Food Fair.

How did Benjamin Saget influence Bob Saget?

Benjamin influenced Bob through his humor, kindness, and emphasis on family relationships. Bob frequently described his father as a mensch who enjoyed bawdy jokes but remained compassionate and caring. These qualities helped shape Bob’s comedic voice and personal values.

What happened to Benjamin Saget’s daughters Gay and Andrea?

Gay Audrey Saget died in 1994 at the age of 47 after developing systemic scleroderma. Andrea Marcia Saget died on September 7, 1984, at the age of 34 from a brain aneurysm. Both deaths deeply affected the family.

What was Benjamin Saget’s net worth?

Benjamin’s net worth has not been reliably documented in public records. He spent decades in supermarket management and retired after approximately 41 years in the industry, but there is insufficient information to establish a trustworthy financial estimate.

Where is Benjamin Saget buried?

Benjamin was buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, California, in the Gardens of Ramah. His memorial service was held on February 4, 2007.

Why is Benjamin Saget remembered today?

Benjamin is remembered primarily through Bob Saget’s stories about his father, his long marriage to Dolly, and the family’s experiences of grief and resilience. His legacy also remains connected to Bob’s dedication to family and his support for scleroderma research in honor of his sister Gay.