Ray Spencer

Ray George Spencer, 93, died peacefully on Sunday, May 24, 2015, at his home in Frederick, Maryland. He will be greatly missed by his daughter, Cynthia Blanchard, and her husband Raymond, also of Frederick, MD; by his son, Ray Charles Spencer, wife Jo Anne and beloved grandson Ryan, all of Santa Maria, California; and by his daughter, Lauren Spencer, of Tucson, Arizona.
Ray was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 3, 1922, to Ray John Spencer and Minetta Brickman Spencer. He attended high school in Ludington and Holland, Michigan, later moving to Vincennes, Indiana, and then back to Chicago. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, following his stepbrother who was subsequently killed in an accident during pilot training. Ray was trained as a navigator and was assigned to the 388th Bomb Group stationed in Knettishall, England. He served two tours of duty, the first as the navigator of a B-17 bomber crew and the second as a squadron navigator, completing a total of 36 combat missions over Germany, France, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and the Netherlands. He achieved the rank of first lieutenant and was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses.
After the war, Ray attended the University of Michigan where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He worked as a design and development engineer on electrohydraulic and anti-missile systems for Vickers, Inc., first in Detroit, then in Waterbury, Connecticut. He moved to Southern California to take a job as a chief engineer at an aerospace company, and later became a sales engineer representing a variety of fluid control product lines.
For more than 20 years Ray owned and operated his own sales company, Scott-Spencer Co., in Rolling Hills Estates, California. He also worked as a substitute teacher for the Torrance Unified School District. In 2005 he and his wife Jan retired from their respective businesses and moved to Frederick, MD, to be closer to family.
Ray was a “people person” through and through. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Palos Verdes, and later attended Ocean View Baptist Church in San Pedro, CA. For both congregations, he volunteered for the role of “greeter,” waiting in the parking lot on Sunday mornings to welcome new people to the church.  He also enjoyed movies, traveling, playing golf, and following his favorite baseball and football teams, especially the Dodgers, Angels and Rams while in California, and the Orioles and Ravens after his move to Frederick, not to mention the Michigan Wolverines.
While in Frederick, Ray wrote up his memoirs of his military service, as well as about two dozen stories of other notable events and funny moments in his life, and shared them with his fellow residents and friends at Spring Ridge Senior Apartments. Only a few weeks before his death, he and his stories were featured in a “Slice of Life” article in the Frederick News-Post.
In addition to his parents, Ray was preceded in death by his wife of 35 years, Janice Scott Spencer, and by his stepfather, Charlie Green.
The family would like to thank the in-home aides from the Frederick County Department of Social Services, the Meals on Wheels volunteers, and the staff of Spring Ridge Senior Apartments for the extra measure of care and concern they have shown for Mr. Spencer.
Military honors will be held at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Frederick County Department of Aging Meals on Wheels program.
Arrangements by Stauffer Funeral Home of Frederick, and Stauffer Crematory, Inc. Expressions of sympathy may be shared with the family at www.staufferfuneralhome.com.