Lee Uhrig Bender (Grangeville ’57)
Posted: March 10, 2026
Lee was born in Syracuse, NY, on March 21, 1934. He passed away in his sleep on April 4, 2025.
Lee graduated from the Ranger School in Wanakena, NY, in 1953. That same year, he enlisted in the Army, Airborne Division. He left the military as a sergeant in 1955.
He rookied at Grangeville in 1957, going on to jump the next year at Redding.
He graduated from the SUNY College of Forestry in 1959.
In 1961, he married Susan Mary Sloan from Cortland, NY. In 1963, the couple moved to Holland for a year after Lee was awarded a Fulbright scholarship. He went on to obtain his PhD in geodetic/civil engineering from Ohio State and taught at the SUNY forestry school in Syracuse until 1978.
That year, the family moved to Reston, VA, where Lee worked in photogrammetry at the US Geological Survey and later in remote sensing at Autometric.
Shortly after Lee’s retirement in 1991, the couple moved to Smith Mountain Lake and built a home, where Lee discovered the joys of the internet. He created webpages for Susan as she developed her real estate business. During that time, Lee would give presentations on a wide range of topics to their local church group.
He and Susan moved to Lynchburg in 2015. They had two sons, Jonathan and Dirk, and four grandchildren.
He was an NSA Life Member.
