M. Gertrude Bender

M. Gertrude Bender, 92, of St. Joseph died Tuesday, January 10, 2006, at Golden Place Nursing Home in St. Joseph. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 2:00P.M., Friday, January 13, 2006, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 211 Church St., St. Joseph with Father Christian Johnston officiating. Burial will be in Lincoln Township Cemetery, Stevensville. Visitation is from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. Thursday, with prayers at 7:00P.M., at Kerley-Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Memorial donations may be made to St. Joseph Catholic Church in acknowledgment of the Parish Eucharistic Ministers. Those wishing to share a memory or sign the guest book online may do so at www.stark-menchinger.com. Gertrude was born May 2, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois, to John and Agnes (Kotowski) Lewandowski. She married Allen Bender on May 11, 1936. She and her husband were co-owners of Lakeshore Distributing. Gertrude was an avid gardener and homemaker, working on the family farm alongside her children and husband. Of her many responsibilities was shipping produce to farmers’ markets. Gertrude was very active in the community in the St. Joseph-Lincoln Township Senior Center, the Baroda Senior Center, the Berrien County Safety Council, the “Nutt Club”, and her ladies “friendship” club. She is survived by her son Robert (Jane Cuthbert) Bender of Stevensville; daughters Ruth Fricke of Watervliet and Rhonda (DeWayne) Crippin of Three Oaks; daughter-in-law Pamela Bender of Stevensville; sisters Isabella O’Brien of Dowagiac, Rose Ball of Decatur; and grandchildren Kari Bender and Tina (David) Erb. She is preceded in death by her husband Allen in November of 1997 and son Ronald Bender on June 6, 1997, brother Edwin Lewandowski; and son-in-law Robert Fricke.