Waltraud C. Bender

Waltraud "Trudy", "Traute" C. Bender, age 77, of Manchester Presbyterian Lodge, previously of W. 39th St., died on March 8, 2007 at St. Vincent Health Center. She was born on May 30, 1929 in the free state of Danzig, the daughter of the late Karl and Valeria Wohlgemuth. She devoted her life to home and family and was always there with her friendliness and good nature for everyone. She loved to cook, bake, play board games and cards and enjoyed handiwork and knitting. She was a member of Glenwood UM Church. She was preceded in death by a son, Michael C. Bender, and is survived by her husband of sixty years, Henry "Hank" Bender, of Erie, and two sons, Fredrick, and his wife, Martha, of Simpsonville, S.C., and Gerald, and his wife, Sherry, of West Springfield, Pa. Three grandchildren, Adrienne and Margaret Bender of S.C. and Michael C. Bender of Boston, Mass.; two sisters, Gertrude Mandel and Gudi Mello, and her husband, Ron, of Erie; and several nieces and nephews also survive.

Friends may call at the Dusckas-Martin Funeral Home, Inc., 4216 Sterrettania Road, on Sunday from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. and are invited there Monday for the funeral service at 1:30 p.m. Interment Laurel Hill. Memorial contributions may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Western New York/Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter, 2060 Sheridan Drive, Buffalo, NY, 14223.