Exton Lee Spencer, 80, passed away Tuesday, July 14, 2020. A private internment ceremony will take place at Forest Park cemetery the morning of Monday, July 27, with services provided by Coker-Mathews Funeral Home, and with Rev. Candice Womack officiating. A celebration of Lee’s life for friends and family will be held at United Presbyterian Church on a future date.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama in October of 1939 to Exton Park and Maggie Mae Spencer, Lee Spencer learned of hard work and business in his father’s grocery store before going on to graduate from Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery. He then attended The University of Alabama (Roll Tide Roll!), where he completed a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Mathematics. Following graduation and ROTC, he served as 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Air Force as a meteorologist stationed in Saudi Arabia. Back in Alabama, it was love at first sight when he met Laura and the couple was married in June 1966. Lee went on to work for Boeing in Huntsville, Alabama and, along with his wife, contributed to the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Lee was hired by E-Systems in Greenville, Texas as a computer systems software engineer and was enticed to leave his beloved Alabama by the opportunity to work for a time in Germany. Over the years, Lee became a transplanted Texan and grew to love the Greenville community and its friendly people. Lee was a devoted husband and father who loved spending time with his family and was a steadfast servant to United Presbyterian Church, serving as elder and treasurer at various times. Over the years, he also held leadership positions with Boy Scout Troop 362 and the Greenville Lion’s Club. He continued this civic engagement as an after-school tutor and in recent years was active in Golden Kiwanis. Lee loved spending time with family and friends at Greenville Club Lake, playing bridge, the occasional golf game, dance parties, sharing a beer while singing German drinking songs, watching Alabama football, travelling, and eating seafood near the beaches of Panama City.
Lee Spencer will be remembered by his family and his many friends for his quiet strength of character, his meticulous precision, his stalwart dependability, his fun-loving spirit, and his devotion and commitment to his friends and family. He was preceded in death by his wife, Laura Spencer, and is survived by his son, Clayton and wife Rebecca and grandson, Benjamin, all of Jacksonville, Illinois.
Memorials may be made to United Presbyterian Church (building fund) at 5905 Stonewall Street, Greenville, Texas, 75402 or to the Greenville Lion’s Club.