John Kendall Spencer ’70

Remembered as sparkling, creative, and empathic, Spence died Dec. 21, 2020, from a rare form of lymphoma.

A graduate of Winchester (Mass.) High School, he concentrated at Princeton in architecture and urban planning and belonged to Stevenson Hall. Senior year he roomed with Jim Anderson, Jeff Brown, Will Reynolds, and John Slifko. He earned master’s degrees from the Harvard School of Education (in planning and social policy) and American University (in organizational development).

Spence had a rich career as a management and organizational consultant. Among the companies he worked with extensively were Digital Equipment Corp., Quintiles, Kendall-Leahy, and Quantalytics. His record of civic engagement included serving as a member of the Masconomet Regional School Committee and chair of the Select Board in Topsfield, Mass., the city where he lived during the last two decades of his life. The local newspaper described him as “thoughtful, caring, supportive, an incredible leader and visionary who was always optimistic and brought passion and energy to everything in which he was involved.”

We saw those same qualities when he was an undergraduate with us, and warmly recall them as we grieve with his wife, Judy; his children Alan and Erin; and his sister, Jane Sears.