Dennis Bender

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Dennis Bender. Courtesy photo.



Dennis Richard Bender
July 11, 1949 — Jan. 26, 2022

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” — Gandhi

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Dennis Richard Bender found himself consistently by losing himself serving as many people as possible.

Born at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento in July 1949, he graduated from Grant High School in 1957 and served in the United States Air Force from 1969 to 1972.

He continued to follow his servant heart as a carpenter and later a general contractor where building homes and remodeling existing housing was his way to improve the lives around him.

After moving to New York in 2001, he returned to Clearlake Oaks, California, in 2016 to be closer to his three sons, Douglas, Daniel and David, his eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Clear Lake provided the backdrop for Dennis’s enjoyment of fishing with his sons, and tournament fishing with his eldest son, Doug.

Dennis lived his life in deep commitment to Jesus Christ, which empowered his ability to bless all who crossed his path.

You may have met Dennis on the docks of Clear Lake, where he worked as a quagga mussel inspector and ramp monitor since 2018.

If you have met Dennis, you knew beyond a doubt that he was honest, reliable, and a pleasure to be around — unless you were a fish, that is. As a fish, you knew you couldn’t escape his hook forever. Dennis embodied the quote, “It is better to sit in a boat thinking about God, then to sit in a church thinking about fishing.”

It is with a sad yet hopeful heart that we say, “till we meet again” to Dennis Bender. As a Christian family we are assured to see Dennis once more as he has returned home with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

He was preceded in the afterlife by his father Richard Bender (1994), his mother Hilda Bender (1992), and his sister Marlene Kilponene (1988).

A celebration of a life well spent will be held at Grace Church, 6716 Live Oak Drive, Kelseyville, on Saturday, Feb. 19, from 3 to 5 p.m.