Bender, Daniel Henry (1866-1945)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1945 Jan 25 p. 1

Birth date: 1866 Jan 18

text of obituary:

Former Educator, College President, Called Away in Death

DR. D. H. BENDER DIED AT ALBANY, OREGON, EARLY THIS WEEK

Word was received here Wednesday afternoon that Dr. D. H. Bender, former editor, minister and president of Hesston College until 1930, died at his home at Albany, Oregon, Monday, Jan. 22, after a lingering illness.

After services at the home in Oregon, the body will be shipped to Hesston where funeral services will be held at the Hesston College chapel at 2:00 o'clock Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 30. Interment will then take place int he cemetery of the Pennsylvania church.

Dr. Bender received his early education at Myersville (Pa.) Preparatory School and in 1921 was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity by Oskaloosa College. He served continuously as president of Hesston College from the time the school was founded in 1909 until 1930. He was 79 years of age Jan. 8 of this year.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1945 Feb 1 p. 5

text of obituary:

Newton And Vicinity

. . .

— One of the largest funerals held at Hesston in recent years was that of D. H. Bender in the Hesston College chapel on Tuesday afternoon. Having passed away at Albany, Oregon, on January 22, the body was shipped here for burial and arrived at the Morris Mortuary in Newton early this week. As former member of many committees in the church, as editor, author and educator, Mr. Bender was widely known in Mennonite circles also outside his own conference. As had doubtless been his wish, he was carried to his last resting place from the institution of which he was president for more than 20 years. Participants in the funeral at Hesston were Bishops Milo Kauffman, president of Hesston College; H. A. Diener, Hutchinson; J. G. Hartzler, Windom, and Rev. Paul Erb of Goshen, Ind. Burial took place in the cemetery at the Pennsylvania church near Zimmerdale.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1945 Feb 8 p. 3

text of obituary:

DANIEL H. BENDER

Daniel Henry Bender was born near Grantsville, Maryland, January 18, 1866, and peacefully passed away in his home at Albany, Oregon, January 22, 1945, at the age of 79 years and four days.

At the age of 14 years he was converted and baptized and became a life-long member of the Mennonite church.

He was married to Ida E. Miller at Springs, Pennsylvania, on July 19, 1896. To this union were born three children: Ralph of Scottdale, Pennsylvania; Paul of Goshen, Indiana, and Ruth of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. On May 4, 1902, his companion passed away. On April 1, 1906, he married Sallie L. Miller at Springs, Pennsylvania, and to this union two children were born: Luke of Los Angeles, California; and Earl of Bakersfield, California. His second companion passed away at Newton, Kansas, on November 29, 1918. His third marriage was to Anna M. Kreider on March 27, 1929; and to this union were born two children: Daniel H. Junior, and Norma Elizabeth, both at home. He is survived by his widow, seven children, one grandchild, three brothers: Fred and John of Springs, Pennsylvania, and C. Edward of Columbiana, Ohio, and many other relatives and friends.

At the age of eighteen he began teaching school, and including his service as administrator at Hesston Academy and College he followed the teaching profession for over 40 years.

In November, 1887, he was ordained to the ministry at Springs, Pennsylvania, and on February 9, 1912, was ordained a bishop at Hesston, Kansas. Early in his ministry he was active throughout the Mennonite church in evangelistic and Bible conference work, and served in leading capacities on many church committees and on church boards, including publication, educational and mission boards. He was active in the early development of these Boards and of the General Conference of the Mennonite Church. He served on the Relief Committee and on the Mennonite Colonization Board, and was active in the organization and early work of the Mennonite Central Committee.

In January, 1904, he resigned as principal of the Grantsville, Maryland, school to accept a call to become editor of the Herald of Truth, the church paper then published at Elkhart, Indiana. In March 1906, he went to Scottdale, Pennsylvania, to serve as office editor of the Gospel witness and alter of the Gospel herald when that paper started as a merger of the Gospel Witness and Herald of Truth to become the Mennonite church paper.

In the spring of 1909 he was appointed to take charge of the new church school being established at Hesston, Kansas. He served as principal of Hesston Academy and Bible School and as president of Hesston College and Bible School until his resignation in 1930. After his resignation he lived in North Dakota, California, and Kansas, and finally settled at Albany, Oregon, because of the mild climate, where he remained until the summons came to occupy his eternal home.

In his very active service in the Mennonite church he was closely associated with such men as Daniel Kauffman, D. J. Johns, J. S. Shoemaker, [transcriber's note: two lines were reversed in the original] S. F. Coffman, D. D. Miller, Aaron Loucks, S. E. Allgyer, and others who were instrumental in guiding the church into fields of activity and in molding the present character of the church in the United States and Canada. He was widely known and loved in all parts of the church for his life of faith and service.

Funeral services were held at the Albany, Oregon, church at 1:30 p.m. on January 25, conducted by Brethren David D. Miller, M. E. Brennemen [sic Brenneman], Fred Gingerich, and George M. Kauffman, and at the Hesston College chapel, Hesston, Kansas, at 2:00 p.m. on January 30, conducted by J. G. Hartzler, Paul Erb, and Milo Kauffman. burial was at the Pennsylvania church cemetery near Hesston.