Clayton Ervin Bender, 87

Clayton Ervin Bender, 87, of Dagsboro, Del., formerly of Marydel and Phillipsburg, N.J., passed away Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md.

Born June 25, 1924, in Wilson Boro, Pa., Bender retired from the military as a tech sergeant with 20 years of service. He served three years in the Navy and 17 years in the United States Air Force, in which he served during World War II, the Korean War and the beginning of the Vietnam War. He was stationed at various U.S. airbases, as well as bases in the Aleutian Islands, Morocco, Greenland, Germany and Misawa, Japan, before retiring in 1965 and settling in Marydel.

Bender was the former co-owner of Kent County Business Machines and C&M Office Equipment in Dover and of Accurate Office Machines in Elsmere. He also owned the Hobby Inn in Smyrna. Bender was a lifetime member of the Air Force Sergeants Association and an avid football fan.

Bender was preceded in death by his parents, John and Pearl (Ketchledge) Bender. He is survived by his loving wife of 49 years, Lis (Petersen) Bender; three children, Melody Pearl Bender and her companion, John Forbes Jr., of Dover, John Thor Bender and his wife, Liberty, of Westminster, Md., and Russel Morris Bender and his companion, Cindy Martin, of Marydel; four grandchildren, Stacy, Bryan, Jonathan and Tanner Bender; and a sister, Pearl Jones, of Palmetto, Fla.

Services and burial were to be held privately at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro, Del., with arrangements by Melson Funeral Services. In lieu of flowers, the family suggested memorial contributions in Bender’s name to the charity of the giver’s choice.