Robert L. (Bob) Bender, 87, of North Kingstown, the loving husband of Carol J. (Fletcher) Bender, died peacefully late Sunday afternoon, July 23, 2017, with Carol and his son Dan at his side at the St. Elizabeth Community. Born in 1930 in Akron, OH, he was the son of the late Harry A. Bender, 'Ph.D. & Agnes L. (Harris) Bender. Bob moved to Kingston, RI at the age of 13 when his father began teaching Mathematics at the Rhode Island State College, now the University of Rhode Island.

He subsequently attended and graduated from the College where he met Carol. They were married on February 19, 1955, a spring-like day where the temperature reached 60 degrees. Approximately four years later they moved into a house that Bob and his father built in what was then both a cow pasture and apple orchard at 230 Prospect Avenue in Wickford, where together they raised a family and enjoyed the passing of time with many good friends and neighbors for the next 58 years. They celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary this past February, and Bob turned 87 years old on March 24, 2017. But turning 87 did not bother him nearly as much as the fact that his first born had just turned 60 years old.

Bob proudly served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and his professional life was in the banking, mortgage-lending and real estate fields, but those facts do not define the significance of his life to those who knew and loved him.

Bob's most enduring and defining quality was his unreserved love for his wife, and his children and grandchildren, as well as their spouses; his support of all their endeavors; and his pride in them in both their successes and their setbacks - it never wavered. His enjoyment of their company was palpable and ever present, and that was apparent to the many friends he and Carol shared together. Those are the qualities that made his children proud to call him their father, and why his children and grandchildren loved him so much. They are what defined his life, made him special to those who were close to him, and form the memories they will hold in their hearts.

Along with Carol, he is survived in this life by his children: Thomas R. Bender & his wife Alana I. Thorpe-Bender, Ph.D. of Pawtuxet, RI; Daniel J. Bender & his wife Maryellen of Avon, CT, their children, Amanda, Ashley (Bender) Kowal and her husband Steve and their two children, Samantha and Stefani; and JoAnn Spragg & her husband James of Westerville, OH, and their children, Ben, Lindsay, and Jenny. He was also the brother of Richard A. Bender of East Hartford, CT and the late Roger H. Bender, Ph.D.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday, July 31, 2017 at 10:00 am in St. Bernard Church, 275 Tower Hill Road, Wickford, to be immediately followed by full Military Honors at St. Bernard Church. Burial will then follow in the RI Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Exeter. Relatives & friends are invited and may call on Sunday from 2:00-5:00 pm in THE CRANSTON-MURPHY FUNERAL HOME of WICKFORD, 140 West Main Street, Wickford Village, North Kingstown. In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory to Hope Hospice & Palliative Care Rhode Island, 1085 North Main Street, Providence, RI 02904, (HopeHospice.org), or to St. Bernard's Rosary Garden, would be greatly appreciated.

 

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