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Buzz Brown continued
When we had District wide training
events, Lee would try to get away and go to them with me. We had a
memorable trip all the way to Sioux Falls for a training session in
the early 1970's. I am not sure whether he got to Salt Lake
City for the last International contest, but he sure wanted to get
there. I know he did attend several of them. The Harmony Hawks will miss Lee
Bendull, and his wife, Marie. We will miss Lee's ever - present
enthusiasm for barbershop singing. All of us who knew Lee knew of
his commitment to the Harmony Hawks. The best way to honor Lee would
be to recommit ourselves to improve and enjoy the fellowship of four
part close harmony. Ed Colton was
a member of the Harmony Hawks for several years. The time that I got
to spend time with him was when
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he rode to the fall contest in Topeka with me, my wife, Arletta, and Ralph Wasik. It was sometime after that that he had his stroke and had to be moved to a care facility. His wife, Sandy, was always there to support him and encourage him. Ed liked to sing and also was proud of our chorus. He liked the competition of the fall contest and prepared well for it. He knew why we competed and recognized how it helped to improve our overall performance. He liked his new electronic gadgets and it seemed as though when anything that was newly invented that would help him save time or energy in doing his job, or scheduling appointments. Ed found a way to use it productively and liked to show how it worked. Ed was proud of his wife and sons and was an avid camper and bicyclist. He was also heavily involved in the development of the bike trails in the Cedar Rapids area. He was the one person in the development of the trails that was the prime mover in the developing stages of the trails. He was also a person who was an avid member of his church and was a part of many of the working committees. Ed was the person who was able to help with the legal part of acquiring additional land to expand their church building complex. Singing With Lee
Bendull I joined the chorus back in August of 1972 and went to contest with the chorus that year. Singing in the quartet competition that year was a quartet from Cedar Rapids called Volume IV. The bass in that quartet was Lee Bendull. I start with that because it so typifies Lee. He was first and foremost a quartet man. Volume IV didn't stick together after that contest and it was shortly after that, that Lee and Sip Strand approached me to sing lead in a new quartet. Needless to say I agreed and with Jerry Nelson (a converted bass) singing baritone we formed the Royal Rendition quartet. I then sang with Lee in one quartet or another for the next Hank Biere continued on page 4
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