Elwood Spencer, 95, Had Sharp Wit, Gentle Manner

Elwood S. Spencer of St. Joseph, Minn., died on June 7. He was 95.

He was born in El Paso, Tex., on Nov. 16, 1910, the son of Revilo Comstock Spencer and Leila S. Spencer. His early years were spent in Deming, N.M., where at age five he delivered newspapers by pony to the servicemen stationed at Camp Cody. He remembered when Pancho Villa raided the nearby town of Columbia.

Spence moved east with his family and grew up in Danielson, Conn., where he excelled in high school sports. He played football, ran track and was captain of his basketball team. After a year at Rhode Island School of Design, he went on to the University of Connecticut and continued to exhibit drive and determination in football, basketball and track. He also became a fine swimmer, played saxophone in a jazz band and waited tables in the dining hall.

After graduation from the university, he married Edith M. Johnson, in 1933. There followed a stint of forestry work with the CCC in Tennessee, then a return north, where he eventually settled in Rye, N.Y. The Spencers moved to the Vineyard in 1944 with their two daughters and bought a home in Chilmark.

When his marriage ended, Mr. Spencer returned to New York and to his former employer, Homelite. He spent several years traveling throughout the United States for his company and was made branch manager of the St. Paul, Minn., offices in 1952. In 1953 he married May Miller of Hill City, Minn., who died in 1983. Mr. Spencer's last 10 years were spent happily with his loving third wife, Shirley Johnson, of Hill City.

Throughout his life, Spence exemplified the strength imbued to many Depression-era Americans. In his early nineties he was still driving his car, cutting down large trees and sawing his firewood, and enjoying a daily sauna - followed by a plunge into his beloved Lake Watab.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley, and by his daughters, Sylvan Spencer of Evanston, Ill., and Carol Spencer Tilton and her husband, David Tilton, of Rye, N.H. He also is survived by five grandchildren: David Tilton Jr. and his wife, Kim, Desiree Tilton and her companion, Michael, and Daniel Tilton and his wife, Luellen, all of New Hampshire, and Deidre Sanborn and her husband, Craig, of Maine and Dawn Tarmey and her husband, John, of South Carolina. There are 10 great-grandchildren: David 3rd and Benjamin Tilton, Tyler, Bryan and Rachel Buchanan, Camille, Kendra and Carrie Tilton, Zebulon Sanborn and Meghan Tarmey.

In keeping with his wishes, Spence will be cremated and interred at Hill City, Minn. He will be lovingly remembered for his sharp wit and gentle manner.