Obituary of Mignonne Bender

On July 26th, 2023, sadly we lost our beloved Mignonne Maria Brouwers-Bender - beloved wife, mother, sister, and grandmother. Mignonne was born in Toronto on March 8th, 1954, after her parents came to Canada from Holland in 1953. During her parents’ passage to Canada, they made a lifelong friendship with Jim’s parents, which is how Min and Jim came to know of each other. In 1972, Min and Jim reconnected in a more meaningful way and were married within the year in Richmond Hill on November 3rd, 1973. Over the next 8 years they completed their family and built their dream home from the ground up where they raised their three boys. While being a devoted mother she had a career in education administration which included pioneering the way for several local school board initiatives such as the attendance check program. With a passionate approach and drive for education administration her self-taught technical know-how led to an advancement within the school board and eventually rose up through the ranks within the educational software field. After her 27-year career, she began her retirement in Mt. Pleasant where she focused on enjoying time with her loving husband and her four grandchildren during the summers and spent her winters down south. Mignonne graced us and everyone she knew with a positivity and passion for everything she encountered including her battle with cancer. Mignonne was the beloved wife of James (Jim) Valentine Bender, and the loving mother of Steven, Gary (Jannah), and Eric (Carol). She was the proud grandmother of Christopher, Fynn, Logan and Graeme. She was the much-beloved sister of Robin (Heather), Yvonne (Greg), Monique (Greg), Rudi (Sue), Lou (Heather), and the treasured sister-in-law of Marilyn (Bruce), Bill (Donna) and Bob (Sheryl). She also poured her love over and touched the hearts of all her many nieces and nephews. As a family, it is amazing for us to hear how many lives Mignonne touched in her 69 years. It has comforted us greatly in this time. Friends will be received at the Beckett-Glaves Family Funeral Centre, 88 Brant Ave, Brantford, on Thursday August 3rd, from 2 pm to 3:30 pm. A Service of Remembrance will be held in the chapel at 3:30 pm. While Min always loved her flowers, the family would like to ask that in lieu of flowers a donation to the Cancer Society be made in her name. A tree will be planted in memory of Mignonne in the Beckett-Glaves Memorial Forest.