J. Spencer Weed ’41

SPENCEWEED died July 28, 1989, in Scottsdale, Ariz. He had lived in Paradise Valley, with his wife, Mabel Ruth Viney. She survived him until Aug. 23, 1989. There are three children from his first marriage: a son, J. Spencer Weed IV, daughters Sally Catherine and Melissa Anne, and two grandchildren.

Spence was a fine horseman who won riding ribbons in Arizona shows with some regularity. Perhaps it was this love which moved him to enlist in the U.S. Cavalry in WWII. For reasons which he has said he was never given, Spence was posted to the 92nd Division. In those segregated days the 92nd was known as an 'all black' division. With it he served with distinction in Italy and rose to the rank of first lieutenant.

Having grown up in Short Hills, NJ., Spence began his business career commuting from nearby Summit to Manhattan for a job with Standard Brands. But in 1950 his family bought a chain of grocery stores in El Paso, Tex., and he went out there to run them. The move to Arizona came in 1957. He had been an executive with Grand Union Stores at the time of his retirement several years ago. He was a past president of the Phoenix branch of the English Speaking Union. Our sympathy goes out to his family survivors and to his close friend, Bertram M. Moser of Scottsdale, from whom we learned of Spencer's death.

The Class of 1941