Who is Ben Hanscom from It and what is their importance?

Ben Hanscom is a famous architect. Ben lives in Nebraska on a large ranch, flies his own plane, and owns his own company. Ben is highly successful, and it seems the only thing missing from his life is a family. Ben's life is perfect and peaceful, until the day Mike calls. Ben begins remembering almost immediately. In fact, Ben not only begins to remember, but his body begins to recall as scars from his past begin to appear on his hands and his belly. Ben goes to a local bar where he has been a regular visitor for many years and tells the bartender that he was once a fat child, a child who was often teased and tortured by bullies. Ben tells him that his life was difficult when he was a child, but none of that was as bad as what happened to him in the summer of 1958. However, Ben cannot clearly remember what happened to him that summer.