Ruth Brender

Brender, Ruth passed away peacefully in her sleep at age 92 on July 29, 2016 at the Mayflower Retirement Community in Winter Park, with family by her side. Ruth was born in Brooklyn, NY on Dec. 7, 1923. One of four siblings, she attended elementary and high school in Brooklyn and married naval aviator Bernard William Brender at the age of 22 in 1946. She now joins her husband who died in 1988. The family lived in nine states and Bermuda before settling in Maitland following her husband's retirement after thirty-one years of active duty, culminating as the first Commanding Officer of the Recruit Training Center in Orlando. As a naval officer's wife, Ruth volunteered at the Navy Relief Society and other non-profits that helped military people. Ruth also volunteered at the Maitland Art Center since her husband was its first President, and served on various Florida House committees-still the only "state embassy" in Washington, D.C. Ruth is survived by three sons, Mark (and his wife Sharon), Gary and Keith (and his wife Jeanette), an older sister Jean; younger brother Murray; six grandchildren, Sharon, Austin, Erin, Shelby, Evan, and Caitlin; and two great grandchildren, Landon and Remy. She has been laid to rest next to her husband at a private ceremony at Glen Haven Memorial Park, Winter Park.