Bender, Harold S. (1897-1962)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 27 Sep 1962 p. 1

Birth date: 1897

text of obituary:

World Conference President,

Seminary Dean Dies in Chicago

Goshen, Ind. — Harold S. Bender, Mennonite educator and historian and probably the most widely known leader in the world-wide Mennonite brotherhood, died Friday evening, Sept. 21, at Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago at the age of 65.

In failing health for the past year, Dr. Bender had retired from the deanship of Goshen College Biblical Seminary on Sept. 1. He entered the Chicago hospital on Tuesday, Sept. 18, for further treatment of cancer. His death was believed caused by a stroke suffered Friday afternoon while reading in his hospital bed.

In August, after undergoing surgery at the Chicago hospital on June 29, Dr. Bender was able to participate in part of the Seventh Mennonite World conference at Kitchener, Ont., of which he was president. He had been president of the world meeting since the 1952 session in Switzerland.

At Goshen for 38 Years

A gifted teacher, writer, and administrator, and a recognized authority on Anabaptist history and thought, Dr. Bender had been associated with Goshen College and the Biblical Seminary for 38 years. He served as dean of the college from 1931 to 1944, during which time the school was accredited by the North Central Association.

He had been dean of the Goshen College Biblical Seminary since 1944. In this position he also had a leading part in developing the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries program in cooperation with the Mennonite Biblical Seminary at Elkhart.

In addition to his work as an educator and a scholar, his contributions in the Mennonite (Old) Church and to the Mennonite denomination as a whole were many and varied. He served as editor of the four-volume Mennonite Encyclopedia, inter-Mennonite undertaking to which he contributed many articles. He is the author of 10 books and wrote extensively for scholarly journals and church papers. As a theologian, he made a significant contribution to Mennonite theology and doctrine.

Among the many positions he filled in the Mennonite (Old) Church were those of chairman of the Mennonite Relief and Service Committee and chairman of the Peace Problems Committee and the Historical and Research Committee.

Dr. Bender served for a number of years on the executive committee of the Mennonite Central Committee. His work on behalf of the MCC and the Mennonite World Conference took him on frequent trips to Europe. He was active in joint efforts of the Historic Peace Churches and in the post-war years served as Mennonite representative at a number of theological and church conferences in Europe.

Educated in Europe, America

Born at Elkhart on July 19, 1897, Dean Bender graduated from Goshen College in 1918 and then served on the faculty of Hesston College in Kansas for two years. He received the B. D. degree from Garrett Biblical Institute in 1922, the M. A. and Th.M. degrees from Princeton University in 1923, and in 1936, the Th.D. from Heidelberg University in Germany.

Soon after returning to Goshen in 1924 Dr. Bender’s keen interest in Mennonite history led him to organize the Mennonite Historical Society. He had a leading part in developing the Mennonite Historical Library at the college, and in 1927 he originated the Mennonite Quarterly Review of which he was editor.

Recognized here and abroad as a church historian, he served terms as president of the American Society for Church History and the American society for Reformation Research.

In 1923 Dr. Bender was married to Elizabeth Horsch, daughter of the later John Horsch, Mennonite historian and writer. She survives with their two daughters, Mary Eleanor, a teacher at Goshen College, and Mrs. Gregory (Nancy Elizabeth) Kosteck, who is studying music in Amsterdam. Also surviving are three brothers, Wilbur J. of Cambridge, Mass., John of Philadelphia, and Dr. Robert of Elkhart and two sisters, Miss Florence Bender of Toledo, Ohio, and Mrs. J. Sheldon (Violet) turner of Thailand.

Dr. Bender was a member of the Goshen College Mennonite Church, where the funeral services were held. Tuesday afternoon, Rev. John Mosemann, the pastor, and Dr. Paul Mininger, president of Goshen College, officiated. Burial was made in the Elkhart Prairie Cemetery south of Goshen.