Talk:Steve Spencer

Obits

• Obit

• Posted to Facebook by Ed Noles: "I’d like to spend my time today trying to capture some of Steve’s most important character traits to share a glimpse of the man that well all loved.

First, some background. Steve was born September 21, 1945. His parents, George and Frances, had married on Christmas Day, 1942 before George headed off to WWII. After George returned home from the war, Steve’s birth followed, a true “Baby Boomer” by definition. Steve grew up, attending schools at various military bases. He graduated from Anchorage High in Alaska before moving South to attend Jacksonville State University here in Alabama. There, Steve had roommates who could generously be described as “eccentric” while he simultaneously participated in the ROTC program. Steve served on active duty in the Army, serving in the extreme cold of Alaska in the Vietnam era. He went on to work as a mine inspector before joining the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and serving in the Army Reserve. Steve was a founder of Ruffner Mountain Nature Center and the Vulcan Trails Association. He was a Cubmaster and volunteer leader in scouting, teaching countless outdoor skills to numerous boys. Steve was activated during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, where he earned the Bronze Star. Steve retired from the State of Alabama and the U.S. Army to spend time with family. More recently, he volunteered with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to prepare relief supplies following natural disasters. First, Steve was a non-conforming individualist. Growing up, the one argument that never held any water with Steve was that “everybody else was doing something, or a particular item was in style. Maybe Steve got that individualism growing up in Alaska. He graduated high school from Anchorage High -- or maybe it was growing up bouncing from military base to base as a military brat. Maybe it was Steve’s exposure to hippie culture of the early 1960s… Whatever the cause, I can’t recall many times where Steve worried too much about what others thought of him. His clothes were often more comfortable than trendy, to put it mildly. His favorite hobby was photographing wildflowers -- he didn’t worry at all that that wasn’t the most masculine avocation. More importantly, Steve was his own man and acted on his conscience. He once cast the deciding vote on a pastor’s future as part of a key church committee, a responsibility that weighed heavy on his conscience. During recent elections, we’d discuss candidates in key races. He’d evaluate those candidates not on their party affiliation, but their positions on key issues. Steve always looked for a candidate that, like he, was strong on defense yet an advocate for the environment. I dare say he might still be looking for that combination still ;) Second, Steve was a passionate environmentalist. Steve loved the natural world more than anyone I’ve ever met. As a scientist, he worked hard to learn as much as he could about nature. Steve studied aquatic biology at Samford, where he earned his Master’s while I was in elementary school. In our home in Roebuck, he had a glorified closet where on weekday mornings, he’d rise even earlier than usual and classify specimens he collected for his thesis on the recovery of a creek after a spill and fish kill. Steve was so dedicated to recycling, that we once brought aluminum cans all the way back to Birmingham on a road trip to Ontario Canada. We kept a compost pile in our back yard and I’d make the trek daily to deposit the morning’s coffee grounds and egg shells. When she’d had enough, mom would draw the line and challenge Steve that he wouldn’t go to “recycle hell” for failing to return a particularly gross sample to The Nature Conservancy. Steve put his advocacy to action in numerous ways. He built trails along rugged mountainsides. He even learned to use old fashioned, labor intensive cross-cut saws to remove downed trees in National Forests where chainsaws are banned. Steve dedicated his career to protecting the environment by working within the system. He founded the Birmingham field office of ADEM when there were two employees, growing it to more than 30 by the time he retired. He worked within an underfunded department to enforce weak legislation to do the most good. He sacrificed the opportunity to earn more by working for private companies so that he could sleep well at night. He enforced Alabama’s environmental laws to the best of his ability, which placed him in the crossfire of advocates who thought he did too little and corporations who thought he went too far. Third, Steve was Adventurous. Steve’s love of nature didn’t mean he only observed it from afar, or sought to keep it under a glass jar. On the contrary, Steve sought to immerse himself in nature -- to roll around and waller in it. It didn’t take too many trips with Steve to plan ahead and bring a full change of clothes and an old towel along. If our route required us to cross a creek, you can be we’d be wading rather than tiptoeing across a fallen tree. If there was a crevice that extended out of site, Steve would be on his belly attempting to slither through the mud. Growing up, we’d take day trips to nearby National Forests, overnight backpacking and car camping trips a bit farther away and multi-week cross country road trips in the summers. Thanks to these trips, I’ve visited most of the lower 48 states and spent countless nights in a tent. Steve taught me to climb rocks, rappel, spelunk, canoe and more. I didn’t realize at the time how fortunate I was to have a father who enjoyed these things or how relatively sheltered my peers were who didn’t get out and see the world around them. Steve had an uncanny sense of direction so that he never got lost and an easygoing demeanor that prevented panic in every situation. He got into some hairy predicaments -- from running out of drinking water on a mountain trail miles from the car to canoeing in flood conditions, but he always got us home safely with memorable stories to tell. I had a nightmare not long ago, that a black mamba was loose in close quarters. Perhaps not surprisingly in that dream, Steve stayed calm and saved the day. That was the kind of guy Steve was -- the one you’d want with you if you were trapped in a locked cabin with a deadly venomous reptile! So, there you have it, Steve was a non-conforming individualist, a passionate environmentalist who loved adventure. But most of all, Fourth, Steve Loved His Family and God. Growing up, Steve had a bumper sticker on his truck that read “Loving My Family is Real Home Improvement,” and he really lived by that motto. Steve took a ton of household responsibilities on his shoulders with the self discipline he acquired from his military family and his own experience. He’d wake up early and work out before knocking out some morning chores. On the weekend, if he wasn’t in the woods, we’d spend long hours raking leaves on our enormous, hilly wooded lot. When Steve was called to active duty for Operation Desert Shield, it was a time of intense stress on our family. Steve’s deployment was a multi-step process that allowed us to prepare but also created high anxiety. Steve’s specialty in the Army was chemical warfare and decontamination and Saddam Hussein had already used chemical weapons on his own people. But as he prepared to depart, the mostly reserved Steve became more open. He shared his love for our family openly in his words, affection and his letters home. That openness carried on through his return from Iraq and beyond. The two most emotional times I can recall were when Steve deployed to Saudi Arabia and when he returned to meet us at Fort Benning. Steve took an active role as the spiritual head of our household. He led our family Advent devotions, dinner prayers, Sunday School lessons and church youth trips. He saw Science as a better way to understand God rather tin competition with his religious beliefs.

I recall Steve being asked once if he was homesick toward the end of a long family trip. Steve explained that because his family moved around so much, “home” was less a place and more being in the presence of family. He was never away from home if he was traveling with us. Today, as we send Steve on his next adventure and to his new, heavenly home, it is a comfort to me that he’ll always live on inside of us." --Dystopos (talk) 15:11, 21 November 2017 (PST)