Lucy Dickinson Spencer

NEWPORT NEWS - Lucy Dickinson Spencer died Saturday at the age of 87. She packed a lot of life into the years before dementia enshrouded her more than a decade ago.
Lucy spent most of her childhood and all of her adult years on the Virginia Peninsula. Born in December 1920 in Tupelo, Miss., she came to Newport News in 1923 when her father, the Rev. Alfred James Dickinson, took over as pastor at First Baptist Church. She left Virginia in 1934, when her father became the preacher at a church in Mobile, Ala. But she returned to the state to study at Mary Washington College, where she received her degree.
Lucy came back to the Peninsula permanently in the early 1940's to work at a shipping company. She married Elwood "Red" Spencer in 1943. They remained married for 56 years until his death in 1999.
In the course of her life, Lucy Dickinson Spencer made more meals than a short-order cook and ironed more shirts than a laundress. But she didn't run a restaurant, and she didn't run a dry cleaners. She ran a household. A household with a husband and four boys – Chuck, Jim, Skip and Dickie.
For much of her life, Lucy's day began around 6:30 in the morning with home-cooked breakfasts that always included eggs, bacon and toast. Her day ended helping with homework or shuttling one kid or another to some kind of sports practice. In between, she made bag lunches for her boys that featured bologna on white bread with condiments customized to suit each child's taste. She washed dishes and clothes, ironed for hours and shopped for groceries. Dinner, like breakfast, was almost always home-cooked – a reliable, if starchy, combination of meat, potatoes, vegetables, bread and dessert. Lucy passed the plate until it was empty, one reason why her boys occasionally shopped for clothes in the "husky department." "Who wants the last doughnut?" was her mantra. Or the last French fry. Or the last slice of roast beef. Or the last piece of chicken. The clean-plate club, Red called it.
Lucy was smart. She was also strong-willed. That her body fought stubbornly long after her brain gave up should have surprised no one, especially to the staff at the Governor's Inn who saw ably to her comfort in her last years.
Still, Lucy's greatest strength was the love and loyalty she showed for the things she cherished most. Red was her partner for more than a half-century before he died. Her children wanted for nothing that she was capable of providing. Chuck died in 2006. Sons Jim, Skip and Dickie, who cared for her nobly at the end of her life, survive her. So does Lucy's beloved sister Bertha Taylor, who answered Lucy's fiery emotions with patience and friendship.
Lucy loved her daughters-in-law - Kim Spencer, Laura Spencer, Janis Spencer and the late Leila Spencer. She loved her grandchildren - Claire, Eliza, Cody and Jesse Spencer. She loved Jesse's wife, Dawn Hutchinson. Were it not for dementia, Lucy surely would have loved her great-granddaughter, Piper Spencer.
Lucy also loved her church - First Baptist and, later, First Presbyterian. She loved a good game of bridge, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Woman's Club. She sang, first in school glee clubs and later in church choirs. Her near-constant whistling provided the musical score for her life.
That life was about energy. Lucy absorbed the rush wherever she felt it, from the exclusive crowds at cotillions to the raucous throngs at basketball games.
If a single word described Lucy, that word is passionate. It is her passion that those who cared for her will remember and miss the most.
Visitation will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Peninsula Funeral Home, 11144 Warwick Blvd., Newport News. Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Peninsula Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.