Lucile Bendick was born Lucile Benita Shapiro in Bridgeport, Connecticut on December 24, 1912. She recently passed away in Chevy Chase, MD at the age of 99. Lucile grew up in a large, close family that included siblings Charles B. Seton (late of Larchmont, NY), Fenmore R. Seton (late of New Haven, CT), Myra Meyer (late of Hartsdale, NY), and Theodore R. Seton (late of San Francisco, CA). Their father, attorney Charles B. Shapiro, mother, Stella Rosen Shapiro, and grandparents, Dr. Maurice and Fannie Rosen, were prominent in the reform Jewish community of Bridgeport. Lucile attended Bridgeport Normal School (later, the University of Bridgeport) and Columbia Teachers College where she received a B.A. in 1936. An English major, she studied in England as part of her college program and vividly remembered having tea with a very elderly George Bernard Shaw. Her training also included a summer presenting Shakespeare plays in rural Western North Carolina. In 1936, Lucile married Marc Bendick, an engineer from New York City, and settled in Bridgeport. She taught at the progressive Unquowa School in Fairfield while her husband served as a naval officer in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, they settled in the historic Gershom Sturges-Benjamin Penfield Homestead near Bridgeport's Black Rock Harbor, notable for having served as a tavern during the Revolutionary War. In 1958 the family moved to Pacific Palisades, California, where Lucile taught English literature, composition, and other subjects part-time at Palisades High School. In retirement, she and her husband traveled widely, both internationally and in their camper van throughout the U.S. Lucile is survived by her daughter, Susan Bendick Tesler, and son-in-law, Philip Tesler, of Culver City, CA; son, Marc Bendick Jr., and daughter-in-law, Mary Lou Egan, of Washington, DC; former son-in-law Lowell Hioki, of Santa Fe, NM; grandsons Kirk Saburo Hioki, of Pagosa Springs, CO, and Todd Toshiro Hioki, of Pasadena, CA; devoted sisters-in-law Suzanne Seton, of Larchmont, NY, Jeanne Bendick, of Guilford, CT, Phyllis Seton, of North Branford, Ct; Edme Seton, of Greensboro, NC, and Suzanne Seton of San Francisco, CA; and many nieces and nephews. She always maintained a wide circle of friendships, ranging from fellow fans of books and music at Brighton Gardens Assisted Living to women she had remained close to since early girlhood. The family especially wishes to thank Ms. Patricia Shorter, her wonderful caregiver during the final 11 years of Lucile's life. A private funeral service will be held on May 14, 2012, at the Veterans' Cemetery in Santa Fe, NM, where Lucile's husband predeceased her in 2000. Contributions in Lucile's memory can be made to the School Volunteer Association of Bridgeport, Inc., 280 Tesiny Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06606, www.svabridgeport.org.
Published in the Los Angeles Times on April 5, 2012.