Kevin Scott Bender

Kevin Scott Bender, 34 of Bethlehem, Pa. died on Tuesday Jan. 26th, after a brief battle with acute leukemia, at Hospital of University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Kevin and his wife Joelle (Hudak) of Bethlehem celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary on June 26th. Born in Nazareth he is the son of Stanley "Butch" Bender, Jr. and Julianne (Schwartz) Bender of Bushkill Township. Kevin attended Holy Family Grade School in Nazareth, Pa. He is a 1992 graduate of Notre Dame High School, Green Pond where he excelled in football, basketball and baseball. In 1997 he graduated from Penn State University with a BA in Elementary Education. He later earned his Masters Degree of Education in 2002 from Wilkes University and while teaching and raising a family he graduated magna cum-laude from Lehigh University earning his Master of Education in Administration in 2009. Kevin truly enjoyed teaching at Alburtis Elementary School for eleven years and for the past two years teaching at Eyer Middle school of the East Penn School District. He was the union representative for Alburtis Elementary School. He also treasured the nine summers teaching, working with all the children and serving as the Arts and Recreation Director at Hillside School in Emmaus. He also was a coach for Lehigh Little League. Kevin and his family are members of Notre Dame of Bethlehem Catholic Church. Kevin will be dearly missed by all his family and friends. He is survived by his wife Joelle (Hudak), their two beautiful children Logan and Leah, both at home, his parents, his brothers; Nicholas and his wife, Danielle, of Whitehall, Pa., Russell and his wife, Kyla, of Saylorsburg, Pa. and Douglas of Bethlehem, in addition to his paternal grandfather Stanley R. Bender, Sr. of Nazareth, PA and his maternal grandmother Mrs. Helen Schwartz of Bethlehem. He is also survived my many aunts, uncles and cousins. He will also be missed by Joelle's parents Ed and Sharon Hudak and her brother, Ed Hudak, III and his wife, Kristine, and sisters, Monica Reinke and her husband, Jason, and Bethany Socrates. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday Jan.30th at 11:00 a.m. in Notre Dame of Bethlehem Catholic Church, 1861 Catasauqua Road Bethlehem, Pa. Visitation will be on Friday 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Connell Funeral Home, Inc. 245 East Broad St. Bethlehem, Pa. Memorials may be made to a Trust Fund for the benefit of Logan and Leah Bender Payable to CGMI c/o Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, 74 West Broad Street, Suite 200, Bethlehem, PA 18018-5738.