Rose Marie Bender
November 7, 1921 – March 1, 2020
Rose Marie Campbell Bender (known as Bonnie) of Saxonburg, PA formerly of Avalon, NJ, died on Sunday, March 1st, 2020 in Omaha, NE.
Born in Binghamton, NY on November 7, 1921, she was the daughter of Floyd A. and Anna W. Rieder Campbell.
Bonnie was a graduate of Binghamton North High School, Elmira College, studied Aeronautical Engineering at Guggenheim School of Aeronautics, NYU and received her Interior Design Degree at Philadelphia College of Art.
Bonnie was employed as a Structural Designer at Chance Vought Aircraft in Stratford, CT and a Technical Writer at Link Aviation Devices, Inc. in Binghamton, NY.
She was married on February 17, 1945 to Donald H. Bender of Lansdowne, PA to whom she was married for 49 ½ years. Don was a Mechanical Engineering Graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Bender died on July 16, 1994. In addition to moving where their work took them, Bonnie and Don maintained a home in Avalon, NJ from 1962 until 1988.
During her married life, Mrs. Bender also worked for American Olean Tile Co. in Lansdale, PA, M.A. Bruder Paints in Philadelphia and retired from Pittsburg Paints in Pittsburg, PA as Manager of Color Marketing in 1984.
Mrs. Bender was cited as a Noted Color Authority and Spokesperson for the Paint Industry in Color. She was listed in the “Who’s Who of American Women” in 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1980. She was a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, the Inter-Society Color Council and a Lifetime Member of the Color Marketing Group. In Avalon, NJ, Bonnie was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Avalon, Avalon Seniors, the Avalon Museum and Historical Society, Inc., the Avalon Garden Club, the Burdett Tomlin Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and the Shoemaker Holly Chapter of the Questers.
In Saxonburg where Mrs. Bender lived, before moving to Omaha, she was a member of the Saxonburg Memorial Presbyterian Church, the GFWC Saxonburg District Women’s Club and President of the John Augustus Roebling Chapter of the Questers.
Bonnie is survived by two sons, Stephen Alan Bender of Denver, CO and James Scott Bender of Omaha, NE; one daughter, Barbara Louise Hoagland of Butler, PA; 12 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; sister, Ruth E. Laman of San Diego, CA; brother, Richard F. Geide, Jr. of Wichita, KS; and several nieces and nephews.
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