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EAST PALESTINE -- Joyce M. Bender (nee Simoff) will celebrate her 80th birthday on Monday, February 21, 2022.
She was born in Ellwood City, Pa. on Feb, 21, 1942, the daughter of the late Boris and Mary Simoff. She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1959 and attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa. where she received her BA in Spanish, graduating in 1964. She married John D. Bender in 1966, and they made their home in East Palestine, Ohio, raising three children, John Bender of Front Royal, Va,, Julie Limpach of Elyria, Ohio and Michael Bender, East Palestine, Ohio.
She taught English and Spanish in Geneva, Ohio her first year out of college and then at Salem High School in Salem, Ohio from 1967 to 1968. Taking time to raise her family, and tutoring students, she joined the newsroom of the Ellwood City Ledger in 1986 as a reporter, then as their Entertainment Editor, where she retired after 19 years.
She enjoys the Steelers, Pens and Pirates. She has three grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.