"Employee" is to "employer" as "dependent" is to what? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate:
A depends on B, is A dependant, or is B dependant?

I'm trying to find a word that is the counterpart to "dependent", i.e. refers to the one who the dependent relies upon. A word that meets a definition along the lines of the following:

One who has dependents, but is not necessarily a dependent himself.

Or perhaps:

One upon whom others depend.

It came about in a discussion with some coworkers and none of us could find an answer and now it's really bothering me.

I tried searching for it on Google, but I could only find results relating to income tax filing status and similar topics.

Benefactor is a suitable word.

A person who confers a benefit

Depending upon the context (i.e., the value and importance of the benefit conferred) you could use donor, patron or the simple contributor or giver.

Plenty of words satisfy your requirement.

A dependent relies upon a provider.

provider
n.
1. One who supplies a means of subsistence: