Bender, Frank Noble | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

BENDER, Frank Noble (1860-1921) arrived in Vancouver B.C. in early December 1911 and the following year he designed the Hotel Empress, East Hastings Street near Main Street, VANCOUVER, B.C., 1912 (Vancouver Daily World, 26 Oct. 1912, 12, descrip.; H. Kalman, Exploring Vancouver, 1978, 59, illus.; dwgs. at City of Vancouver Archives). This 8 storey block was among the first reinforced concrete-framed commercial blocks to be erected in the city.
Bender was born in Fairview, Illinois on 11 August 1860 and lived and worked in Independence, Kansas, at first as a carpenter, and, after 1900, as an architect. It is unclear why he left Kansas for Seattle, Wash. in 1911, but he later travelled to Vancouver,B.C. and worked there. His stay on the Canadian West Coast was brief, and he returned to Seattle in late 1913, remaining there until about 1920. He died at Independence, Kansas on 26 August 1921 and was buried in that city (obit. Independence Daily Reporter [Kansas], 27 Aug. 1921, 1).