Marion Bender, 80, passed away suddenly on March 17, 2023, in Pioche, NV. Born Oct 4 th , 1942, in Pasadena, CA to James and Lola (Appley) Moberly. She attended Monrovia-Duarte High School Class of 1960 and later graduated from La Verne College with a BA in Elementary Education in 1965. She went on to earn a Masters in Education from Michigan State University in 1973. Her teaching career began in Southern California yet led her to teaching on US military bases at Kadena AFB Okinawa, Japan and the Army base in Aschaffenburg, Germany. She loved traveling and visited over 26 countries. Marion later married Orel “Ben” Bender and moved to Pioche, NV where she settled and had a long teaching career at Pioche Elementary School from 1978-1998.
Marion enjoyed travel, collecting dolls, studying the history of local mining towns, and was an avid reader. She was a member of the Pioche Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln County Search and Rescue, as well as the High Desert Racing Association. Ben and Marion enjoyed Jeep outings with friends and were active in providing security for several mines in the area.
Serving the community was important to Marion and she was active in Rainbow Girls growing up and then serving in Eastern Star for over 25years. Highlights for her were Associate Conductress (1981), State Grand Officer in the Order of Eastern Star for the state of Nevada (1990-91), and Grand Representative of California in Nevada (2002).
She is survived by her brother William Moberly, her niece Laurie (Dan) Williams, nephew Bryan
(MaryAnn) Moberly. Marion also enjoyed great nieces and nephews Megan, Mitchell, Bryson and Malana, as well as her “adopted” daughters Rebecca (Luis) Rodriguez and Cheryl (Tim) Murray.
No services are planned at her wishes. Any donations in her memory can be made to Pioche Elementary School PO Box 30 Pioche, NV 89043.