Filmore Edmund Bender

Filmore Edmund Bender (74) passed away peacefully on October 2, 2014. He was born in Bakersfield, CA on August 9, 1940 to Marvin Edmund Bender and Edna Spitzer Bender. He was baptized at Ebenezer Reformed Church in Shafter, CA and was confirmed in the Heidelberg Catechism in Grace Reformed Church in Bakersfield, CA. He graduated from Edison Elementary School, Bakersfield High School, UC Davis, and he went on to receive his Ph.D from North Carolina State University. He married the love of his life, his high school sweetheart, Christine Norton on January 31, 1958.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Marvin and Edna Bender and his brother, Alten Bender. He is survived by his wife, Christine, his four children, Karl Alten Bender of Bakersfield, Frederick Jacob Bender of Alexandra, LA, Kurt Edmund Bender of Annapolis, MD, and Tonja Alysse Bender of Baltimore, MD., and 5 grandchildren. He is also survived by a sister, Marjorie Aichwalder of Davis, CA.

He served on the faculty of the University of Maryland, College Park, MD from 1964 to 1992. For eight years he served as an associate director of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station. He served as Chief of Party for USAID project in Kenya from 1992 to 1994. In addition to teaching in Germany, El Salvador and Venezuela, he also worked as an analyst in Korea, India, Venezuela, Egypt, and parts of Africa. He retired as professor emeritus from the University of Maryland in 1992. During his time at the University of Maryland, he authored or co-authored three university text books on statistical methods.

Among his many achievements, he was the Grant Administrator for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded display on biotechnology for the Smithsonian Institution, titled the "Search for Life".

After returning to Bakersfield in 1994, he worked with the Adult Literacy Council and also worked with the Bill L. Williams School towards introducing children to the benefits of reading through the classics.

He was a longtime member of Kiwanis and a lifetime member of the American Agricultural Economics Association and the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to Kiwanis International Foundation, 3636 Woodview Trace, Indianapolis, IN 46268.