Virginia Ruth Spencer

Ruth Spencer, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, church and civic leader, died at home in Columbia, South Carolina, September 22, 2005. Funeral service will be at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 28 at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church with Rev. Ron Durham officiating. Interment will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6 – 8 p.m., Tuesday, September 27, in the Spencer Parlor at the church. Mrs. Spencer, born Virginia Ruth Martin on March 3, 1915, in Battle Creek, Michigan, the daughter of Dr. Walter F. Martin and Eleanor Paullin Martin. She graduated from Battle Creek High School in 1933. She placed second in a nationwide contest, conducted by The Chicago Times, for the honor of “most representative American girl of high school age.” She attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, for two years, and graduated from Baylor University in 1937. She married Wacoan John Shivers Spencer in 1936 and moved to Waco, where they made their home. Mrs. Spencer was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, Henry Downs Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Baylor’s Golden Heritage Club, and the Waco-Baylor Foundation. She also served on the boards of the Waco Public Library, the American Cancer Society, and the Waco Boys Club. She taught Sunday School at Columbus Ave. Baptist Church for 45 years. She began by teaching young brides, after which she taught a class of Baylor freshman girls. In later years, she taught the Esther Class, composed of adult women who became her close friends. In 1977 she was named Mother of the Year at Columbus Ave. Baptist Church, and in 1978 she received the Woman of the Year Award from the Altrusa Club of Waco. She resided in Waco until 2000, when she moved to Columbia, South Carolina, to live with her daughter and son-in-law. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 54 years, who died in 1990. She is survived by her daughter, Sarah Lee Spencer Brown and husband Frank of Columbia, SC; son, Walter Boyd Spencer and wife Cathy of Urbana, Il; grandchildren, Karen Brown Gandy and husband Lee of Lynchburg, Va., Spencer K. Brown and wife Stephanie of San Antonio, Erik T. Spencer and wife Lisa, and Paul T. Spencer and wife Ceci, both of Dallas; great-grandchildren, Comann and Fulton Gandy; Chase, Ashlyn, and Camden Brown; Hannah, Lena, and Erin Spencer; and Sydney and Logan Spencer. For those who seek guidance in selecting memorials, the family expresses a preference for Columbus Avenue Baptist Church, Baylor University School of Music Scholarship Fund or a Hospice agency of your choice. The family wishes to thank Gloria Bruner, Clydell May, and Minnie Garcia for the excellent assistance they provided Mrs. Spencer before her move to South Carolina. Thanks go also to the competent, compassionate caregivers who cared for Mrs. Spencer in Columbia, Mary Tucker Harris, Ella Higgins, Lois Jackson, Sharon James, Thelma Neal, Carrie Trapp, and Lottie Wright; to the staff of Lutheran Hospice; to the doctors in Senior Primary Care; and to Richard Still of AAA Staffing Services. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Memorial Guestbook” at www.wilkirsonhatchbailey.com Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey