WICHITA — Gary Dale Bender was born Oct. 1, 1947 in Russell Kan. He was the oldest of two children born to Ernest H. and Helen R. (Templing) Bender. Gary passed away on Dec. 18, 2020 in Wichita (Maize) Kan.
Gary leaves his beloved wife of 31 years, Kathy, and their adult children and grandchildren to mourn his loss.
Gary grew up on a farm in Russell Kan. He was baptized and confirmed at Bender Hill Lutheran Church. Gary and his family moved to Great Bend when he was in high school, where he graduated in 1965.
Gary moved to Wichita Kan. in 1965 where he attended Wichita State University, graduating with degrees in Accounting and Information Technology (IT).
Gary played the accordion with his family and was an avid horseshoe pitcher. He enjoyed all sports, but his favorites were baseball and softball. His love of baseball led him to play as pitcher for the WSU baseball team during his college years. Later he would play in competitive men’s softball leagues. He also enjoyed attending Wichita State basketball games. Gary loved spending time at the lake with his family. Many vacations and weekends were spent on the water skiing and boating.
Gary and Kathy eventually moved to Charlotte, N.C. where they lived for many years before retiring back to Wichita to be near family.
His faith was important to him and he was an active member of Pathway Church for many years.
Gary was preceded in death by his parents, Ernest and Helen Bender; and brother-in-law, Dennis McGreevy. He is survived by his wife, Kathy; sister, Judy McGreevy; children, Jarrod (Tammy) Severeide, Heidi (Cory) Martin, Tobie (Brandon) Andrews, Jeremy (Misha) Bender; nine grandchildren, Brady, Ryan, Bailey, Parker, Finley, Presley, Evan, Charlee, and Beck. In addition, he is survived by his nephew, Coy McGreevy, as well as aunts, Dorothy (Whit), Hilda and Linda.
Memorial Service will be at 2 p.m., Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, at Downing & Lahey West Mortuary. Service will be Live Streamed and available to view at www.dlwichita.com. In lieu of flowers, memorials have been established with Alzheimer’s Association of Wichita, 1820 E. Douglas Ave., Wichita, KS 67214 //www.alz.org/cwkansas, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 215 W. Pershing Rd., Ste. 300, Kansas City, MO 64108 www.jdrf.org, and Pathway Church, 2001 N. Maize Rd., Wichita, KS 67212 www.pathwaychurch.com.
Funeral arrangements provided by
Downing & Lahey Mortuary
6555 E. Central
Wichita, KS 67206
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Jan. 3, 2021
