Elsie Elaine Ormes Bender

Elsie Elaine Ormes Bender, 89, was born March 17, 1926, in Waskom TX and passed away April 25, 2015, in Monroe LA. Funeral services will be held at 10 AM Friday, May 1st, 2015, at Royal Haven Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. Burial will be at 12:30 PM beside her beloved husband of 63 years, Hubert L. Bender, who was buried in the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery after his death on Jan. 11, 2015. The services will be conducted by Pastor John Furman of Anaheim, CA.Elsie graduated from Marshall High School in Marshall, Texas, in 1943 and Texas State College for Women in 1947. She started her career as a high school English teacher and, as she liked to put it, 'worked her way down' to teaching kindergarten and nursery school. Elsie was also a Sunday school teacher and Brownie troop leader in some of the many places they lived. She made hundreds of lap robes for nursing homes, baked thousands of cookies for church events, and tatted miles of lace for pillow cases to be sold at the First United Methodist Church bazaar in Jefferson, Texas. Elsie married Hubert Bender on May 9, 1951. They resided in Texas until Hubert enlisted in the Air Force in 1954. Their 22 years in the Air Force took them to Mississippi, New Mexico, Washington, Guam, Japan, Massachusetts, France, Germany, back to New Mexico, and California. They retired to Marshall, Texas in 1974. Due to health issues, in 2002 they moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas to be near their oldest daughter, Kathy. As the health of both Elsie and Hubert declined, they moved from their own home to assisted living and then into Kathy’s home. Elsie’s advanced condition necessitated a move for her to Methodist Village nursing home in August of 2014. After Hubert’s death early this year, Elsie was brought to Monroe by her daughter Susan and resided in The Oaks. Elsie was a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother. She raised her children well; even during times that Hubert was away serving his country and she had that responsibility on her own. In spite of her illness, she kept her sense of humor to the end, bringing a smile and laughs to those who visited her and those who cared for her at The Oaks. Elsie is survived by her four children, Kathryn Worthington and husband Jim of Stillwater OK , William Bender and wife Elizabeth of Fort Worth TX, Mary Furman and husband John of Anaheim CA, and Susan Elaine Duke and husband Terry of Monroe LA, her brother Ray Ormes and wife Betty of Dallas TX, her sister-in-law Janelle Bender Reed of Los Lunas NM, grandchildren Amy Martindale and husband Jeff of Stillwater OK, Wayne Bender and fianc Lindsey Clark of Flower Mound TX, Jake Worthington of Alma AR, Michael Duke of Monroe LA, and Holly Furman of Anaheim CA, and great-granddaughter Violet Martindale of Stillwater OK. Elsie was preceded in death by her husband Hubert, her parents W. H. Ormes and Clemmie Alice Lee Ormes and her sister Betty Hood.Memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church, 305 W Henderson, Jefferson TX 75657, or to the Alzheimer’s Association.Online Registry/Condolences: www.mulhearnfuneralhome.comMulhearn Funeral HomeSterlington RoadMonroe, LA