BENDER, Jean Marie

Bender, Jean Marie Jean Marie Bender went home to heaven October 26, 2003 after a short illness with cancer. She was born in Akron, Ohio on February 7, 1939 to William and Regina (Williams) Hupp. She graduated high school in Brazil. Jean graduated from Kent State University in 1978 with a Bachelors in Nursing and received her RN license. She worked at Castle Nursing Home in Millersburg, Ohio for 11 years. She retired from the Veterans' Hospital Nursing Home in Phoenix, AZ after working there 10 years. She then owned and operated her own adult care facility, Golden Horizons, in her Peoria home for several years. She is survived by four children: Annette Owen of Mesa AZ, Gary Bales, Sr. of Urichville, Ohio, Cynthia Whitman and David Bales, Sr. of Millersburg, Ohio. She is also survived by her step-mother, Sue Pearson of Alabama; siblings: Bill Jr., Marilyn, Kim, Tony, Marianne, and Donald; 23 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, step-father, Bill Courter, twin sister, Joyce McCleary, and daughter, Elizabeth. No services are planned as was her wish. Memorial contributions can be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation or Hospice of the Valley. Published in the Arizona Republic on 12/21/2003.