Friends and family gathered by the hundreds Sunday to remember Evanston man Ben Abels as an instant friend, a travel buff and a lesson in living life to the fullest.

Ben, 33, a realtor, has been missing in Thailand since the Dec. 26 tsunami.

His parents, Bob and Hope Abels, along with several other friends and relatives, addressed an audience that spilled from wooden pews into rows of folding chairs to fill Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, 1224 Dempster St.

David Abels remembered his younger brother’s endless energy for life.

“My brother, Ben, he lived more in 33 years than most would live in 100,” David Abels said.

His brother’s last full day in Thailand, David Abels said, was “a small reflection of his life.”

Ben — a man who often surprised his mom with flowers and once flew home just for his parents’ anniversary — spent the night before the tsunami shopping for his family, his brother said. That day, Ben had gone boating with a couple from Argentina.

“He loved to travel, but he did it in a different way than most,” David Abels said. “He really tried to experience different cultures.”

Three easels of photographs, many which showed Ben on a beach or in another country, filled the lobby of the synagogue.

During the service Bob Abels read from his son’s first travel journal, which he said Ben started when he went to Europe after his junior year at Evanston Township High School. Ben traveled the world as a junior ambassador in a student diplomacy program, Bob Abels said.

“I could travel forever,” Ben had written.

Bob Abels shared a list of the friends Ben said were his closest on the short trip. Audience members smiled as he read at least 10 names.

“That was Ben,” Bob Abels said.

Anyone meeting Ben for the first time could tell how outgoing he was, friend Robert Steiner Jr. said after the service.

“Even just meeting him four times, he was the most approachable, friendly, easy-to-be-around guy,” Steiner said.

Longtime friend Laurie Harris read aloud a letter she wrote to Ben after he went missing.

Harris, who has known Ben her entire life, said he found “the fun and positive side of everything” they did together.

“It went from football to dolls. I’m sure I made you play Barbie at least once,” Harris read.

She remembered how willing Ben was to give up his bed for her when she visited him at Miami University of Ohio, where he started classes in 1989.

After graduation Ben moved to Colorado, but David Abels said his family was ecstatic when Ben bought a house in Evanston in 2003.

When Ben came over, “(my son) Emmett would laugh louder and smile wider than I had ever seen before,” David Abels said.

Melissa Teller, Ben’s cousin, said she loved his impromptu visits to see her whenever he traveled across the country.

“Ben knew his passions, and Ben lived his passions,” said Teller, breaking into tears. “Sitting here, I think we all know that if Ben had his life to live over again, he wouldn’t change a thing.”

Reach Marissa Conrad at [email protected].