Elwood Bender of Fairmont passed away at the home of his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Gay Fisher, near Geneva Thursday, September 10, 1959, aged 84 years, 7 months and 27 days. He died in his sleep after more than a year of gradually worsening paralysis.

Mr. Bender was born at Plum Creek, now Lexington, Neb., January 14, 1875, the fourth of 14 children born to Thomas and Mary Jane Bender. He came to Fillmore county with his parents when the grasshopper plague of the late '70's drove them from the Platte valley.

Mr. Bender served with the First Nebraska Volunteer Regiment during the Spanish-American War and was in the Philippine campaign in 1898-99.

At the close of the war he was married to Lillian D. Barr of Lincoln at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Lincoln. To this union were born five children, three of whom did not survive infancy.

After serving six years in the Lincoln post office, Mr. Bender returned to Fairmont in 1910, farming for two years. He then became a rural mail carrier and served until his retirement in the spring of 1940.

His wife died in December 1943. June 14, 1945, he was united in marriage to Olive Rundell of Stafford, Kas.

Mr. Bender is survived by his wife, Olive; one son Paul Elwood, of Fairmont; one daughter, Mrs. Elsie Fisher of Geneva; four grandchildren, Tarilyn, Steven and Le Anne Bender and Thomas Fisher; two sister's Mrs. Letitia Rothwell of Tacoma, Wash., and Mrs. Alda Kellogg of Edgemont, S.D.; three brothers, Frank of North Platte, Dwight of Powell, Wyo., and Hubert of Deadwood S.D.; 36 nephews and nieces and many friends.

Funeral services were held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, September 13, at Grace Methodist church in Fairmont, Rev. George M. Seick officiating. Interment was in the family plot in the Fairmont cemetery.

Mr. Bender was reared in the Methodist church and was a staunch supporter and loyal servant all his life. He set a true Christian example and reared his family close to the church. He request to those who knew him was: "Do not grieve for me when I go Home, for I will be with the Lord. Live so that you will come also, for I will be waiting."

The Nebraska Signal September 17, 1959.
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Siblings: Archibald, Daisy, Earle, Harvard, Hubert, and 7 others names unknown.
Married Lillian Dee Barr on November 8, 1899; and married Olive Rundell on January 14, 1945.
Spanish American War Veteran, Musician of company g, 1st Regiment, Nebraska
Lot Owner: T. J. Bender