Forever in our Hearts 
the Life of John Bendix

This slide show with music 
 is from the funeral home website. 

 HERE

Life remembered: Longtime teacher was 'one of the great Bluejays of all time'

• By Kristine Goodrich kgoodrich@mankatofreepress.com
• Mankato Free Press

 

 

WASECA — After five decades in a classroom, John Donahue Bendix still wasn't ready to retire from teaching.

When budget cuts meant staffing reductions were on the horizon at Waseca Public Schools, Bendix volunteered to keep teaching part time without compensation.

“He couldn't stop teaching, but he didn't want another teacher to lose their job,” said his wife, Deanna Bendix.

When the Waseca High School social studies teacher did finally fully retire after 55 years, he continued to keep score for and cheer on student athletes.

“He still had a great presence here. We will miss him a great deal,” said Waseca High School Principal Jeanne Swanson.

Bendix died Jan. 18 at age 83.

Teacher John Hanson remembered Bendix as “one of the great Bluejays of all time.”

Bendix was “incredibly knowledgeable” and he inspired students to achieve their full potential and to be proud to be a Bluejay, Hanson said. 

“He had just the right balance of high expectations, humor, discipline and most of all compassion,” Hanson said. “Every student he ever taught knew he cared deeply about them as people regardless of their background, skill level, home they came from, etc.”

Bendix came to Waseca in 1958 and did not fully retire until health forced him to less than a decade ago.

He taught history and social studies to thousands of Waseca teens.

He won the affection of students and honors such as Waseca Teacher of the Year in 1994 and induction into the inaugural class of the Waseca Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.

  

Swanson was Bendix's student before she became a colleague and then principal. She said she will “always remember his kind demeanor,” and he was an “engaging storyteller.”

Former colleague Ted Hammond said Bendix had an “unbelievable sense of humor” and always had a smart comeback for any student who challenged him.

“(Students) couldn't believe he could be that quick-witted,” Hammond recalled.

Deanna Bendix said her husband took it as a challenge to be the first educator to arrive at the high school each day to tutor students and plan ways to make his classes hands-on and relevant to youth. 

"In his class you were learning, but not in a boring or painful way," she said. 

A star athlete in high school in Annandale and at St. John's University, Bendix later became a coach and a scorekeeper. 

 

He coached track for 30 years and basketball for 25 years. When a lack of gym space required the freshmen to practice early in the morning, his wife said Bendix would chauffeur any team member who needed a ride.

He also could often be found in the stands of every other sport cheering on his students.

He embraced the idea that “kids don't care what you know until they know that you care,” Hammond said.

He continued to help with track meets and score basketball games for years after he retired from coaching and teaching. In more recent years he was described as the Bluejay's No. 1 fan.

Bendix's family are planning to start a scholarship in his memory. Deanna said they won't limit the recipients to top academic achievers because John believed in the potential of all students.