Erma Lucille Bender, 85, of Harrison Township, died peacefully at SOMC Hospice on January 4, 2017.

Erma was born September 16, 1931, the daughter of Adrian Gilliland and Muriel (Crabtree) Gilliland, both of whom preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her beloved daughter, Denise Lynn Bender and a sister, Dorothy Cade.

Erma was a member of Harrison Mill Church of Christ. Erma was a truly a pioneer woman. When asked as a young bride in 1954 to raise her family in a log house built before the Civil War with less than accommodating circumstances, she did so without complaint. She made the house into a home with much love.

She was a longtime employee of Scioto Shoe Mart. She considered Tom, Delores and Sheila and her fellow employees as her family. She was one of those people in life who gave much more than she received. We are all fortunate to have been in her presence and she will be greatly missed.

Erma is survived by her husband, Stanley; her son, Stanley C. and his wife, Susan; her granddaughters, Ashley Crane (T.J.), Allison Bonilla (Enrique); great grandson, Alexander Mateo Bonilla; great-grand-stepdaughter, Isabelle Bonilla; four siblings, Wanda Smith, Russell Gilliland, Doris Riddlebarger and Helen Burton.

Funeral services will be conducted 2:00 p.m. Sunday, January 8, 2017 at Erwin-Dodson-Allen Funeral Home in Minford with Pastor Harold Cox officiating. Burial will be at Memorial Burial Park in Wheelersburg.

Friends may call at the funeral home from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday and one hour prior to the service on Sunday. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to SOMC Hospice, 2201 25th Street, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662.