Merle Leroy Bender
Merle Leroy Bender, 89, died peacefully
in his home in Hesston on the morning of Friday, July 20, 2012, six
days short of what would have been his 90th birthday. Merle grew up
on a farm outside of Milford, Neb., with his brother, Merton, and his
sisters, Dorothy and Barbara, where his family toiled for years of
Dustbowl-era drought and Depression-era fortunes. Small of stature
but tough, Merle played high school football and baseball, and
remained physically active his entire life. Merle attended Hesston
College, where he received his AA in 1949 and where he met Donna
Byler, his wife of 49 years. Merle received his BA from Friends
University in 1950, and an MS in public relations from Boston
University in 1953. Merle's professional career embraced the
spiritual and the academic worlds with equal passion. He was ordained
as a minister in the Mennonite church in 1948, and held full-time and
part time pastorates for many years thereafter. He worked as a
director of public relations for Hesston College and Friends
University, and from 1965 to 1972, he was director of development for
Bethel College.
At 50, Merle left his familiar Kansas
surroundings to accept the challenge of working in New York City for
the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.
His duties as the board's director of
development included extensive travel to places he'd dreamed of
visiting as a child, including Korea, China, the Philippines and
Indonesia. When not travelling, he carpooled from his home in
suburban Montclair, N.J., to Manhattan's Upper West Side for the next
15 years. Merle and Donna returned to where they'd first met,
retiring first in Wichita (where they lived for 10 years) and then to
Hesston's Schowalter Villa community. Their retirement years included
regular international tour vacations throughout the world. Merle
continued to do good works on various local boards; his most recent
legacy is the Hesston Public Library, which recently underwent a
major expansion and relocation.
While no musician or singer himself,
Merle loved live classical music and musical theater. Merle's wife
Donna died in 1998; he continued to travel and work throughout his
retirement, and he is survived by his five children, Dawn, Diane,
David, Dirk and Dana; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Merle's memorial service will be at 3
p.m. Friday (July 27) at Hesston Mennonite Church. In lieu of
flowers, his family has requested contributions in his name to the
Dyck Arboretum (www.dyckarboretum.org), where Merle enjoyed visiting
and nurturing. Miller-Ott Funeral Home, 107 S. Lancaster, P.O. Box
32, Hesston, KS, is handling the arrangements.