Deborah "Debbie" Ann (Morris) Bender

Debbie was born May 17, 1953, in Jacksonville, IL, to Charles and Mary Ann (Settles) Morris. A proud Air Force brat, she followed her father to multiple duty stations before graduating from Radford High School in Honolulu, HI, in 1971.

On July 21, 1990, Debbie married Mike Bender in San Angelo, TX. All four of Debbie’s sons—Geoff, Craig, Nick, and Jon—were part of the wedding ceremony. Soon afterward, Debbie resumed a seminomadic life of service for the next 16 years to support Mike’s active duty Air Force career. Debbie and Mike celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2020.

Debbie was always passionate about reading and especially about instilling a love of reading in children. She started her dream career as a library technician at the Hickam Air Force Base library in 2002. In 2005, she began working for the San Antonio Public Library system, where she remained until her retirement in May 2019. Debbie sponsored many creative programs at the library, the most popular of which was the annual Halloween bat program she held with representatives from the Bracken Bat Cave.

Debbie was an animal lover, an environmentalist, a supporter of local charities, and an unapologetic sci-fi nerd. She loved life and transmitted that love to everyone she knew.

But the greatest joy of Debbie’s life came from being a grandmother. She loved spending time with her grandkids and spoiling them in a way only a grandma can. She adored her three granddaughters (Audri, Vicki, and Evie) and two grandsons (Geoffrey and Greyson). Another granddaughter will be born in March. We will do everything in our power to keep Debbie’s memory alive in the kids’ hearts for years to come.

In addition to her grandchildren, Debbie is survived by husband Mike, son Craig and his wife Amanda, son Nick and his wife Rachel, and son Jon. She was preceded in death by son Geoff and by her parents, Charles and Mary Ann.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Doctors Without Borders, San Antonio Pets Alive!, or your local Food Bank.

The family of Debbie Morris invites you to a virtual service honoring her life at 1:00 PM CST on Saturday, February 27, 2021.

Please see https://afterword.co/stories/deborah-bender for additional information