Anita Bender

ANITA BENDER

Iowa City

Anita D. Bender, 91, of Iowa City, passed away peacefully Friday, Oct. 24, 2014, at Oaknoll Retirement Residence. To honor "Nene," the family will greet friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service, Iowa City, and from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, in the Oak Room at Oaknoll. Family committal services will be at Memory Gardens Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Oaknoll Foundation or Iowa City Hospice.

Anita was born Oct. 3, 1923, on a farm west of Hills, Iowa, the daughter of William E. and Edith A. (Michel) Droll. She attended University High School and graduated in 1941 from St. Patrick's High School. Following high school Anita attended Dee Lee University in Chicago and a business college in Iowa City. Anita married her high school sweetheart, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Bender, in South Carolina on Sept. 15, 1943.

"Nene" was a world traveler and loved spending summers at the family cabin in northern Minnesota as well as fishing trips into Canada. In her later years, she enjoyed playing cards and working jigsaw puzzles with her friends at Oaknoll. Anita was a lifelong Hawkeye fan and a member of the Mercy Guild and University Women's Club.

She will be remembered by all for her perpetual sunny disposition and sense of humor.

She is survived by two sons, Dr. Stephen T. Bender (Sue) and Thomas J. Bender (Susie) of Iowa City; along with four grandchildren, Bradley Bender of Chicago, Bryce Carlton (Zach) of Des Moines, Ryan O'Leary (Dawn) of Iowa City and Robert "Robbie" Bender of Iowa City; and three great-grandchildren, Aidan, Liam and Haven O'Leary of Iowa City; as well as a brother-in-law, Donald Bender of Madison, Miss.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a sister, Patricia Donovan; and infant son, William J. Bender.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.lensingfuneral.com.