Calvin Perry Spence

Calvin Perry Spence, 79, of Conway, a man known to many as Santa Claus and still more as a loving, doting husband, father and grandfather, was taken to heaven Sunday evening with his children and loving wife, Maggie, by his side. Perry converted to the Holy Roman Catholic Church in the spring of 1958 at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, where he was an active member until his passing.

It’s been said of Will Rogers that he never met a man he didn’t like. This can be said about Perry, never was there a man who met him who didn’t like him. He had the gift of gab and a heart of gold.

Perry was a man of many names: Papa, Puggy, Stumpy, Runt just to name a few, but some of his proudest moments came under the Kris Kringle moniker. Perry’s jovial demeanor, fondness for children, and full white beard led to a calling later in life to play one of Santa’s helpers. Donning the red suit made by his wife, Maggie, he played the role to the hilt at St. Anne’s, stores, schools, nursing homes and office parties, always with a smile on his face and a “Ho, ho, ho!” in his heart.

He was an avid sports enthusiast, and followed the St. Louis Cardinals and Arkansas Razorbacks with great interest. Perry, an eternal 39 years old, was born February 28, 1926, outside of Paragould in Greene County to Clyde L. and Francis L. Spence.

In 1944, as soon as he turned 18, he dropped out of Oak Grove High School in Greene County to enlist into the United States Navy. He was stationed in Hawaii, where he earned the nickname Runt because of his diminutive build and fiery demeanor. He was in charge of recreational sports for the enlisted men, a job, though “cushy,” he took very seriously because he knew of the importance of taking the men’s minds off the war. It was here he met many major league baseball players, including St. Louis Cardinal great, Stan Musial, after whom his first-born son was named. After the war, he returned to his native Greene County, but work took him to Peoria, Ill., where he worked as a tool man at Caterpillar Tractor Co.

He married the love of his life, the former Anna Magdaline Terry, on February 28, 1948, at St. Francis Cathedral in Peoria. They had the first two of nine children in Peoria before the job market took him back to Paragould where he learned the trade of butcher at Kirshoff’s Grocery. And another child was born. He moved to North Little Rock in 1951 to butcher at Heslip’s Grocery. It was there in North Little Rock that the baby explosion occurred, six more children born in seven years.

In 1958, he bought a service station in Levy, then went back into the meat business, where he would spend most of the rest of his working life. He closed out his working career with his lifelong dream, owning his own butcher shop, Perry’s University Meats, in Little Rock, which he opened in 1983. He had to close the store for health reasons in 1985 and has since been retired aside from the occasional Santa Claus gig. He lived the last years of his life in a house on Lake Conway.

He was preceded in death by a son, Michael. He is survived by his wife, Maggie Spence; four sons, Stanley and his wife, Sharon; Clyde and his wife, Robyn; Tony and his wife, Jamie; and Matthew and his wife, Trachele; four daughters Edie Engel and her husband, Ben; Brenda, Mitzi and Patricia Spence; 14 grandchildren, Heather Olvey, Holly Heer, Jeremy, Amanda, Jessie, Stephanie, Heather, Michael Jr., Brendan, Leslie, Danielle, Caroline, Maddie, and Anna Grace Spence; 5 great-grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Paris, Max, Cassidy and Abigail; three step-granddaughters Jodie Engel, Erica Small, Amy Oliver; and a brother, Gerald Spence of Paragould. Vigil Service will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at North Little Rock Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Anne’s Catholic Church. Burial will be at Arkansas State Veterans’ Cemetery with military honors. Online obituary and guest register at www.northlittlerockfuneralhome.com