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Rev Harold Stauffer Bender

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Rev Harold Stauffer Bender

Birth
Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana, USA
Death
21 Sep 1962 (aged 65)
Cook County, Illinois, USA
Burial
Goshen, Elkhart County, Indiana, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Bender, Harold S., son of George L. and Elsie (Kolb) Bender, was born at Elkhart, Ind., July 19, 1897; died at Chicago, Ill., Sept. 21, 1962; aged 65 y. 2 m. 4 d. On May 9, 1923, he was married to Elizabeth Horsch, who survives. Also surviving are 2 daughters (Nancy Elizabeth-Mrs. Gregory Kosteck, and Mary Eleanor), 3 brothers (John, Wilbur, and Robert), and 2 sisters (Florence and Violet). He was ordained as minister at large in 1944, and served the church in many ways. For a more complete account of his life and work, see the Gospel Herald, Oct. 9 issue. He was a member of the Goshen College Church, where funeral services were held on Sept. 25, in charge of John Mosemann and Paul Mininger.
(Mennobits)

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.
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 (Old) Mennonite 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 (Old) Mennonite 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 late 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.
(MWR 27 Sep 1962, p. 1, 3; see also Who's Who among the Mennonites, 1943; Biography by Albert N. Keim, 1998.
Bender, Harold S., son of George L. and Elsie (Kolb) Bender, was born at Elkhart, Ind., July 19, 1897; died at Chicago, Ill., Sept. 21, 1962; aged 65 y. 2 m. 4 d. On May 9, 1923, he was married to Elizabeth Horsch, who survives. Also surviving are 2 daughters (Nancy Elizabeth-Mrs. Gregory Kosteck, and Mary Eleanor), 3 brothers (John, Wilbur, and Robert), and 2 sisters (Florence and Violet). He was ordained as minister at large in 1944, and served the church in many ways. For a more complete account of his life and work, see the Gospel Herald, Oct. 9 issue. He was a member of the Goshen College Church, where funeral services were held on Sept. 25, in charge of John Mosemann and Paul Mininger.
(Mennobits)

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.
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 (Old) Mennonite 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 (Old) Mennonite 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 late 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.
(MWR 27 Sep 1962, p. 1, 3; see also Who's Who among the Mennonites, 1943; Biography by Albert N. Keim, 1998.


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