Judy Corinne Bender passed away peacefully on December 11, 2025 at the age of 87. Judy was born on August 23, 1938, the daughter of Arthur J. and Marinette J. Oelke Bender, in the home of her great-grandmother, Amelia Seifert Vogt, in Farmersburg, Iowa. Shortly after her birth, she and her mother returned to Clinton, Iowa, where her parents made their home. Her mother, a violinist, was an apartment manager, cashier, and bookkeeper and her father, a concert violinist, owned music stores in Elkader, Clinton, Maquoketa and Dubuque, Iowa, and Sterling, Illinois. Coming from this musical background, Judy became an award-winning trumpeter.
After her parents divorced, Judy and her mother returned to northeast Iowa. While her mother worked as the cashier and bookkeeper at Bink Mercantile Company in Elkader, Judy stayed with her grandparents, Theodore and Lillian Vogt Oelke Glawe, on their farm in Farmersburg Township where she learned to love animals. When Judy started school, her great-grandmother Amelia Seifert Vogt and her great-aunt Marion Vogt moved, with Judy and her mother, to Elkader to help care for her, although Judy still spent summers on the farm until 1947. When her mother Marinette married Alfred Bink in 1947, she became a member of another new family which eventually included half-sisters Lois and Kathy Bink.
In high school in Elkader Judy played the trumpet in concert, marching, jazz and pep bands, played Taps at military funerals, sang in the girls’ chorus and mixed chorus and edited the school newspaper. She also belonged to the Girls’ Recreational Association, FHA (Future Homemakers of America), Girl Scouts, Summer Women’s Softball and National Honor Society. Judy was elected Band Queen in 1956 and rode in the NE Iowa Marching Band Parade in Cedar Rapids. She graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1956 at Elkader High School. She graduated summa cum laude of the class of 1959 at Upper Iowa University with a double major in History/Political Science and Business Administration and was a member of Kappa Eta Beta.
On May 31, 1958, Judy and Gerald (Jerry) Moyna were married at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Elkader, where they both were members. Judy was also a member of the Ladies’ Guild and the Crafters.
While Jerry was in the United States Army, they lived in Schwabisch Gmund, West Germany, where he was stationed from 1960-1962. They then returned to Elkader where Jerry rejoined the family business, C. J. Moyna and Sons. Their daughter Kathleen Ann was born on May 31, 1962, and died on July 5, 1962. Two sons, Stephen Michael and James Matthew were born in 1963 and 1964.
Judy and Jerry enjoyed traveling to the Moyna homestead in County Monaghan, Ireland, three times before Jerry’s death. They also traveled to Austria, Italy, Switzerland, England, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Canada, and Mexico as well as the states of Hawaii and Alaska and many others. However, they most enjoyed their two sons, although Judy always claimed she could not get a straight answer from either Jerry, Steve or Jim. They seemed to think it was more fun to keep her guessing.
In addition to working for Hart and Hart Attorneys and clerking and bookkeeping at Bink Mercantile Company, Judy taught social studies, language arts, and business in Strawberry Point, Guttenberg, Volga, and Elkader, Iowa, for 36 years, retiring in 2000. She enjoyed retirement by playing Bridge and Settlers and taking short trips with her many friends in Elkader.
Judy’s favorite hobby was genealogy. Her genealogy database contains over 195,000 individuals (yes, you might be one of them!). Judy was a charter member of the Clayton County Genealogical Society and belonged to the Jackson County and Clinton County Genealogical Societies and the Iowa State Genealogical Society.
Judy is survived by her sons Stephen Moyna of Altoona, IA, and James (Audrey) Moyna of Mundelein, IL; her grandchildren Connor (Raechel) Moyna, Claire (Zakyus) Tate, Tyler (Karin) Moyna and Megan Moyna; her great-grandsons Raylan Moyna and Mac Moyna; her half-sisters Lois Bink (Jan) Wood and Kathy Bink (Tim) Dillon; her nephew Michael (Jill) Nesteby and niece Alison (Kenny) Parmer; grandnieces and grandnephew Alexis, Alexander and Alaina Nesteby; her sisters-in-law Erika Schoenfeld Moyna and Kathy Moyna; nieces and nephews Tena (Tom) Niles, Linda (John) Bush, Susan (Mike) Robinson, John (Doris) Moyna, Patrick Moyna, Brian Moyna and Michelle Moyna; her adopted siblings Lyle Bender, Astyre Star Cole Bender, Nielson Cole Bender, Curtlin Cole Bender and Brenton Cole Bender; her step-siblings Peggy Ihm, Ann Boltinghouse and George Oleson; and her caretakers Michelle (Roger) Bushkofsky and Morgan (Louis) Reed.
Judy was preceded in death by her best friend and husband Jerry Moyna on October 12, 2011, and their daughter Kathleen. She was also preceded in death by her parents; her grandparents Lillian Vogt Oelke Glawe and Henry Donald Oelke; two very important people in her life, her stepfather Alfred Bink and her step-grandfather Theodore Glawe; her much-loved daughter-in-law Ann McClimon Moyna; half-sisters Barbara Bender (William) Mendelson, Adele Bender (Robert) Putman, Mary Bender (Roy) Swayze; her adopted brother Dan Bender; her in-laws Cecil and Katherine Kramer Moyna, Patricia and Milford Koehn, John Arthur Moyna and Michael Edward Moyna; her aunts and uncles Evelyn and James Stewart, Donna Oelke Moritz (Kenneth) Radloff and Calvin Oelke; cousins Paul Moritz and Mary Moritz (Kenneth) Anderson; her step-father Avron Oleson and fourteen dogs including nine Toy Manchester Terriers and innumerable cats.
Judy always loved to say she was an only child with fourteen brothers and sisters. She prays that we all meet again in heaven to enjoy a cup of coffee or a shot of Jim Beam Peach to celebrate good times and to dig up more history on Elkader.
A funeral is planned for May 8, 2026, in Elkader, Iowa.
Leonard-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Elkader is helping the family with the arrangements.