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In memory of
Stephen "Spence" Greely Spencer
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Stephen's obituary
9/5/59 - 11/18/2
Steve Spencer, known to his family and many friends as “Spence”, died suddenly on November 18, 2020, following a cardiac arrest at his Columbus residence. Spence was the third of four children born to Dr. Eugene and Evelyn Spencer in Dayton, Ohio. He was 61.
By the age of 5, it was clear that Spence had artistic skills far beyond his years. He was constantly getting into trouble throughout his schooling for creating flipbook animations in the margins of his textbooks, modifying and recaptioning photos, and passing around scandalously accurate caricatures of his teachers. It was clear who had done the work, as none of his classmates were capable of it. Stern admonishments would always end with praise for his rendering skill and a request to keep the offending drawing as a souvenir.
Spence graduated in 1977 from Milton-Union High School in West Milton, Ohio, and then enrolled at Capital University, in Columbus. There, Spence’s contributions to the campus newspaper resulted in several national journalism awards for his cartooning. Still, he felt he didn’t quite fit in as Fine Arts major at a school not known for its BFA program. So he reached out to Mike Peters, a mentor and multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist with the Dayton Daily News. Peters encouraged Spence to pursue a degree in journalism, so he transferred to the Ohio State University. Spence quickly became a regular contributor to The Ohio State Lantern, a publication with a rich history of staff cartoonists going on to great things: Mark Szorady (“George”), Milton Caniff (“Steve Canyon” / “Terry and the Pirates”), Fred Laswell (“Snuffy Smith”), Bill Keane (“Family Circus”), and Spence’s friends and colleagues, Jeff Smith (“Bone” / “Thorn”) Jim Kammerud (animator and director, Walt Disney Productions), and John Backderf (“My Friend Dahmer” / “Kent State”). Jeff Smith and Spence created the first animated graphics shown on the Ohio Stadium scoreboard in the early 80’s. At the Lantern, Spence authored six daily comic strips, including “50% More Absorbent Comix” and “The Girls of I Phelta Thi”, a parody of Greek life on campus. Spence’s caricatures and comic strips were widely celebrated for their telling insight and razor-sharp writing without ever being mean-spirited or malicious. His spot-on caricatures of football coach Earle Bruce and basketball coach Eldon Miller prompted assistant coaches to reach out with requests to lay off their bosses, one assistant explaining, “Coach can’t help how he looks.”
Spence’s first professional position was with the Lansing State Journal, a Gannet newspaper publication. Gannet recognized Spence a dozen times in his first two years as one of the top fifty employees out of 24,000 in over 100 newspapers nationwide. This resulted in a promotion to the New York metro edition of USAToday, the flagship of the Gannet empire. Spence was also briefly lent to the Washington, DC metro USAToday when its cartoonist and illustrator was on leave. After ten years in New York, Spence’s desire to return to his Midwestern roots found him again at the Lansing State Journal. He eventually followed one of his editors to the Dayton Daily News, then again to the Columbus Dispatch, which was Spence’s career goal all along.
Spence was raised in a family of rabid Buckeye fans and his lifelong love for Ohio State athletics found him regularly contributing illustrations, caricatures, and infographics for the sports section of the Dispatch. He threw himself into researching the history of the Horseshoe during the renovation of Ohio Stadium from 1998 to 2001. Frequent site visits over the course of the three year project and voluminous notes resulted in a masterful illustration of the complex and its architectural history, which ran in the Dispatch and was also permanently hung in OSU’s Woody Hayes Athletic Facility. Years ago, a controversy arose over a decision to change the colors and design on the Buckeyes’ football jerseys. Spence, once again, undertook weeks of research to create a beautiful pictorial history of OSU’s football uniforms. These gorgeous illustrations were enlarged by the athletic department and hung along the staircase leading from the weight room to the players’ lounge. Coach Jim Tressel confirmed to Spence that his uniform illustrations were copied by Nike in its annual throwback uniform project.
Spence was passionate about music and film and enjoyed drawing caricatures of pop culture figures. When national acts visited Columbus, Spence often drew the cover of the weekend insert for the Dispatch. Among the folks he illustrated were the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Buddy Guy, Luciano Pavarotti, Jeff Beck, Willie Nelson, U2 and many others. The subjects would often autograph the original drawing, which Spence would frame and hang in his home studio. He once received a call after drawing Schwarzenegger for the cover of the insert to the Dispatch, following the annual Arnold Classic, “Schteeve, it’s Aahrnold, I’m a bick fan!” “Get outta here, man,” Steve said, thinking a friend was doing a bad impression. It really was Schwartzenegger, who bought that year’s original and autographed another cover from a previous year for the studio wall.
Some of Spence’s many honors, awards, and recognitions include:
First place from the New England Press Association’s Best Illustration Award; first place from the Society of Professional Journalists Central Ohio Chapter for Graphic Design; the Ohio Excellence in Journalism award; The Press Club of Cleveland Daily Newspaper Illustration/Graphic award for 2000 for “Pavorotti Primer”; the Ohio Excellence in Journalism award for Print Visuals by The Press Club of Cleveland for 2001; the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence award; first place from the Society of Professional Journalists as an Editorial Cartoonist; the Associated Press Society of Ohio’s Best Informational Graphic for 2005 for the “All-Time Teams” published in The Columbus Dispatch; the Associated Press Society of Ohio’s Best Informational Graphic for 2001 for “Ohio Stadium” published in The Columbus Dispatch; the Mighty Pen Award’s Best Graphics for a Collection of Work award; the Award of Excellence from The Columbus Dispatch for Informational Graphics; first place from Sports Page Designers for the Best Informational Graphic for 2006; three time recipient of the Associated Press Best Informational Graphic award; the Eddie Award for 2007 for the Best Graphics/Illustration for contributions to The Columbus Dispatch; and the Society of Professional Journalists Best Cartoon/Illustration for 2008. His work is also part of the permanent collection at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum at Ohio State, created by his university advisor and mentor Lucy Shelton Caswell.
Spence is preceded in death by his mother, Evelyn (1982), his father, Eugene (2004), his older sister, Stephanie Ploeger (2014), and step-mother, Christina (2018). Spence is survived by his wife, Stephanie, of San Antonio, Texas; older brother, Scott (Maria) of Columbus, Ohio; younger sister, Soo Keith, of Raleigh, N.C.; and step-brother, Jay Connors (Kristi) of Marysville, Ohio. He is also survived by step-children, Mary (Emmanuel) Cervantes, Jenny (Dave) Boykin, and Andy Hild; nieces, Leah (Patrick) Eberle and Hannah Spencer (engaged to Austin Eaton)(Scott and Maria); Alyssa Ploeger and Suzanne (Tim) Voorhees (Stephanie); nephews, Simon and Oliver Keith (Soo); step-nieces Delany, Darian and Darby (Jay); and grandchildren, Tyler and Camden (Jenny), Kaelyn and Cole (Andy), and Zoey (Mary).
Spence was a gentle soul that loved people (with a special affinity for babies) and animals in equal measure and gave respect to all he met. Spence loved Rennie, his high school German shepherd, and Roxanne, his Boxer as an adult. He treasured reading, especially studying history and the lives of those who shaped it. Spence once drove 4,700 miles over the course of less than two weeks to visit 21 Civil War battlefields with his lifelong friend, Jim Wheelock. His sense of humor was sophisticated and his recall of jokes encyclopedic. He cherished laughter, but even more, he loved to make others laugh. Spence had many close, long-term friends, including Jim Wheelock - bosom buddies since fourth grade - college friends, Demos Ioannou, Jim Kuhn, Tim Robinson, Chris and Vivian Khan, golfing buddy John Polatas, and many others. Spence loved his family, including his many cousins, whom he first considered friends. Prominent among these friend/cousins are Judge Brett Spencer, Ed and Dan Freund.
Spence will be interred with several generations of his family, next to his parents at St. John’s Lutheran Church Cemetery outside Greenville, Ohio. Due to Covid-19, the graveside service will be limited to immediate family. A memorial service will be held at a later date, TBA. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Spence’s name to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum at The Ohio State University, 27 West 17th Avenue Mall, Columbus, Ohio. 43220-1393, 614-292-0538. Gifts in Spence’s name can be made online at https://go.osu.edu/give2biclm or by mailing a check to The Ohio State University Foundation, PO Box 710811 Columbus, Ohio 43271-0811. In the memo, please write “BICLM 308558, Spencer”.
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Created with love by
Scott Spencer (Stephen's brother).
