Oh Linda, I wish you would have let me know he was so ill. I am SO sorry for your loss, & I know what you are going through; I’m still walking down that road. Please don’t hesitate to call if you need to talk - it helps when you can talk to someone who knows! My phone # is in Spence’s cell phone. You were so very good to him; I have been amazed by you. Please take care, call me if there is anything I can do for you…
~ Cindy Mavri,
Waukesha, WI
Dear Linda, My deepest condolences on the loss of your dear man. What an enormous gap such a larger than life partner leaves behind. I was one of the people lucky enough to be considered a friend of Spence’s, from the Flushing Channel days of the UWM Sailing Club, where I worked and played for 20 years from the mid 1970s. My often cold & solitary checking hours were early til late. I often found Spence and “Wind Dancer” already - still there, ready to provide sparkling conversation, as well as the protection he felt I needed.And years later, when I returned from a very unfortunate incident, he offered to find and pummel the offender to any level of disability I should desire. I resisted taking him up on that very heartwarming offer. Sailing with him into the wild horizon was the best healing. He was the sweetest man, and sweetest of all to his dear, very elderly mom, tucking her into a comfortable spot in the cockpit, where she could feel the wind on her face, the boat heeling, and the waves’ motion - perhaps with the gentlest spray. He credited her with both teaching him to sail and making him the man he was.And what a man he was; So big, so burly, with the sun glinting red off his beard, with that big white smile, and even bigger laugh, with wide open arms big enough to hug both me and my wife (the Other Pamela) in one heart warming welcome aboard. He took us out on “Suspense” and got me on the wheel when I didn’t think I’d ever be physically able to sail again. (I only wish he’d been able to avail himself of the total / reverse joint replacements and subsequent pain relief that by Spring ’23 will not only render me bionic, but a total rebuild!) This testimony would not be complete without referencing his uniquely wallpapered bathroom in his upstairs apartment. Such an eyeopener, and yet in total keeping with his life-loving spirit.I told another dear friend of his, Susan Butkovic (when she told me of his passing), that whomever was lucky enough to receive his generously donated corneas would be irresistibly drawn to the Lake by his ever-living spirit. Rest in Peace, Dear Man. We’ll be raising a few to you until we meet again on that other shore, to enjoy those freshening winds together.
Love & thanks for all you did to ease & point our dear friend along The Way.
P.S I never heard Spence speak coherently of his war, but I’d be very interested in hearing the tales of his valor. I do know that he suffered, and I’m very sorry for that.
~ Pamela Danby,
)neida, WI
We had a lot of fun playing hockey at UWM and a lot of laughs outside of that...Sad to see him go. Sail on bud
~ Thomas Szymczak,
Palm Harbor, FL
