Nobody stood taller
Friday, March 16, 2007

By MATT DUNN
Staff Writer

BRIDGETON -- The word "Benderized" cannot be found in Webster's Dictionary.

In fact, it probably doesn't mean anything to most people outside of Cumberland County.


But to the many people touched by the benevolent spirit of Lt. Leslie Bender, who died Monday, the word holds a very special meaning.

It's the feeling a person got after spending even just a little bit of time with the 26-year Bridgeton Police Department veteran, according to Det. Lt. Michael Gaimari.

"Anybody that met (Bender) walked away with a little part of him inside of them," he said Thursday, at a funeral service for the beloved former police officer. "Three-quarters of the current department never worked with him, but through their superiors, everyone has a little bit of him in them."

Bender died Monday at the age of 72 after a lengthy battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, a neurodegenerative disease which confined the lifelong county resident to a wheelchair for the later part of his life.

But somewhere out there, the Upper Deerfield resident is back on his feet, believed those who mourned the passing of the city police officer Thursday morning at Freitag Funeral Home.

"He's one person who probably didn't deserve this," Bridgeton Police Chief John Wentz said at Thursday's funeral service. "But he's probably in a much better place right now."

Wentz said he knew Bender his entire life, and told the crowd of friends and family gathered Thursday the former officer was "a very good man (who) never held a harsh feeling toward anyone."

That character trait was infectious, Wentz said.


Which made it just so much more tragic when, only days after retiring from the Bridgeton Police Department in January 1996, Bender was diagnosed with the deadly disease.
"He was looking forward to spending time with his family. There were things he wanted to do," said Rev. David L. Strope of the West Park United Methodist Church, comparing Bender to the character of George Bailey in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."

Strope officiated Thursday's service, which included a military-style multigun salute.

Strope said, like the character actor Jimmy Stewart made famous, Bender overcame his sudden disabilities and appreciated life to its fullest.

Like Bailey, Bender didn't let life's setbacks control him.

"In the last few days, (Bender) laughed," Strope said. "He was happy. He knew that he was going to be going to heaven."

Bender certainly had a full life to look back on in his final days.

Born in Bridgeton, he served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War as an underwater demolition diver.

After leaving the military, he worked for a few years at Ed's Body Shop.

But Bender was destined to do so much more than just help people by changing their oil and rotating their tires.



"He had a passion to help people," Strope said. "And he thought this could best be done by being a police officer."

Bender was the first person to obtain an associate's degree in criminal justice from Cumberland County College, after which he served as a Bridgeton Police officer for 26 years, rising to the level of sergeant.

At the time of his retirement, he was the highest-ranking city police sergeant, only one step removed from becoming lieutenant.

He took that last step in 2005, when city council bestowed the title of "lieutenant emeritus" upon Bender.

It was a proud moment that doctors told Bender he probably wouldn't live to see.

"(Bender) was proud that he exceeded (doctor) expectations for his life expectancy. But (this week), his fight against the disease had come to its conclusion. In his last few days, he laughed, happy that he would soon be with his wife, his son and his parents," Strope said.

Bender was predeceased by his wife of 49 years, JoAnna Hanshaw Bender, who died in 2006, and a son, Robert, who died at 22 months.

His surviving family members include a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, and one great-grandson, most of whom were at Thursday's service, along with his two caretakers, Loretta Soto and Margaret Miller.

Soto and Miller were like family to Bender.

Soto sang and read a poem at the funeral, her voice shaking with emotion.

"Now I know I can live in peace because I know you live in peace with angel wings," she recited.

Later, Bender's American flag-draped casket was carried from Freitag Funeral Home between two lines of saluting uniformed Bridgeton Police officers.

A lone bagpipe player played "The Rowan Tree," a traditional Scottish tune commonly heard at military-style funerals.

In that moment, after reflecting on the life of the celebrated Bridgeton Police officer, it was hard not to feel Benderized.

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The Rev. Herman G. Stuempfle Jr., a former Lutheran minister in Baltimore who became a national church leader and president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, died Tuesday at the Lutheran Home in the Pennsylvania town from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - Lou Gehrig's disease.
Born in Clarion, Pa., he attended public schools in Hughesville, Pa., and was a graduate of Susquehanna University and the Lutheran seminary. He held advanced degrees from Union Theological Seminary in New York and a doctorate from the Claremont School of Theology.

Before coming to the seminary in 1962 as professor of preaching, Dr. Stuempfle had ministries at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Baltimore from 1950 to 1953, and also in York, Pa., and Gettysburg. He had a 27-year career at the seminary, including 13 as president, and retired in 1989.

An author and poet, Dr. Stuempfle's most widely read theology text, Preaching Law and Gospel, was published by Fortress Press in 1978. He was a prolific writer of hymns, and produced four volumes of them.