Thomasine Suebell Bendorf stepped through the veil into eternity to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on February 19, 2018.

Thomasine was born in a funeral home to Chris and Julia Bendorf of Blair, Nebraska, on Halloween, October 31, 1929. Tommy, as she was known to her friends, grew up in the small town of Blair, and after graduating high school, she attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she pursued her love of children and became an elementary school teacher. After graduating from Drake, she taught second grade in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and then later took a position in Denver, Colorado.

While in Denver, she met the man of her dreams, a naval officer named John B Slater, who lived in her apartment building. After dating for a year, they were married on November 26, 1958, and moved to Santa Rosa. John did his medical internship at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, while Tommy taught second grade in Menlo Park, California.

In 1959, Tommy and John moved to Eureka, where John began his medical practice as a resident physician at General Hospital. Tommy became pregnant with the first of their three children and began to raise their family; family became her passion over the course of the next 58 years.

Tommy had a strong faith in God, and she prayed daily for her family and for those she knew. She and John attended the Methodist Church in Eureka after moving to Eureka, and she would read and study her Bible at her kitchen table, taking careful notes on everything that she would read.

Tommy was preceded in death by her parents, Chris and Julia Bendorf, her brother Charles Bendorf, and her husband John B Slater. She is survived by her three children: John and wife Cindy Slater, Charles and wife Grace Slater, and Julia and husband Rick Hutler. She leaves behind eight grand-children: Joelle and husband Kyle Jermstad; Katelyn, Abigail, Christopher, and Margret Slater; and Hannah, MacKenzie, and Jackson Hutler. She also leaves behind one great grand-child, Sage Thomasine Jermstad, who was named after her great grandma Tommy.

The family would like to thank all of those who were involved with our mother’s care at St. Joseph Hospital, especially those in the Emergency Room as well as the ICU and finally at Granada Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. Tommy appreciated all of you and felt your love and genuine concern for her while she was in your care.

We would also like to thank Goble’s Mortuary. Goble’s reminded her of her father’s funeral home in the way that they cared for her husband, John and brother, Charles. The family thanks them for the great respect and attention they have given our mother too.

A viewing will be held at Goble’s Mortuary on Friday March 2, 2018, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Services will be held at Eureka the Pentecostal Church on Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 12 p.m. The family would like to invite all those who knew Tommy to come and help us celebrate a life well lived.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Tommy Bendorf Slater’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.