By By STEVE MORRISON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – In 1944, when Don Bender left his hometown of Grand Rapids to play football for the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, he had no clue that he would spend most of the rest of his lifetime in a town 90 miles to the south. Grand Rapids' loss proved to be Niles' gain.
Bender played end for the University of Michigan football team in 1944 and '45 before transferring to Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo. He explained that wartime enlistments had caused a gap in the Wolverine football program, so he left Michigan for WMU.
There Bender spent the winter seasons of 1946 and 1947 as a forward on the WMU basketball team for Coach Buck Reed. Bender's eyes sparkled as he recalled playing basketball for the '46 Broncos in Madison Square Garden against New York University, a top-rated school from the East.
After graduation from Western, Bender returned to Michigan and completed his Master's Degree. "Coach" is a true-blooded Michigan fan to this day; his driveway sports a sign: "Parking for Wolverine fans only".
In 1947 Bender and a fellow WMU graduate, Harry Jakubiak, were recruited by the Niles Community Schools to come here to coach football. He recalls that his first salary was a whopping $2,100 and that Jakubiak had to work nights, at Clark Equipment Company, just to help make ends meet.
During his first year of teaching Don met his future wife, "Scottie", an English teacher at NHS. A native of Morris, Ill., she had begun teaching a year earlier, after graduating from the University of Illinois. He jokes that she began "chasing him", but it obvious that the two became instantly attracted to each other.
They were married in 1949. Their only child, Steve, is a well-respected teacher and coach of the Buchanan men's varsity tennis team, continuing the Bender family tradition of dedication to education and athletics today.
While teaching physical education, Mr. Bender was line coach for the Viking varsity football team and head coach for Niles' junior varsity basketball program. Following two years as JV basketball mentor, he was elevated to the head coaching position of the Niles cagers, in 1950.
In 1965, when Ring Lardner Junior High was opened, Coach Bender became the Junior High School Athletic Director, while continuing his career as a P.E. instructor and coach of three sports.
Niles Schools had two junior high schools at the time, including Ballard. "One year we had 106 players come out for football," Bender stated.
Bender accumulated an unparalleled record during his years of coaching three sports: basketball (15 years, 180-74), football (32 years, 180-74), and track (41 years, 439-57). These are cumulative statistics over a 41 year coaching career, at both the senior and junior high levels.
For his many accomplishments, Bender was accorded the honor of induction into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1993. His award was presented by Gary Moeller, then the head coach of the Wolverines, at an induction ceremony at Crisler Arena on Bender's beloved University of Michigan campus.
He is also a member of the all-sports Coaches Hall of Fame.
Don Bender retired from Niles Community Schools in 1988. He is particularly proud that both he and Ed Weede are both inductees to the Hall of Fame, representing Niles.
(This is the second of three articles honoring the past contributors to the Niles Community Schools athletic programs.)