DWIGHT SPEER

DWIGHT SPEER Born in Biloxi, Mississippi in a post-war time when great men served their country, Dwight David Speer was the beloved first-born son to David and Joann (Phillips) Speer. It was 1958; Keesler Air Force Base was his early home. He was soon joined by brother, Douglas, and after a move to Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, sister, Deborah, and brother, Dwaine. In the family's return to civilian life and Indiana, sister, Deanna, made five. Dwight grew up in Tipton, Indiana, and was graduated from Tipton High School's bicentennial class of '76. He was an active member of the local 4-H and Junior Leader clubs excelling in projects featuring woodworking, entomology, forestry, painting, and floral arranging. He was especially close with his grandmothers, Mary Speer, and Reba Phillips as well as his great-grandmother, Wilda Keller, who encouraged his passion for horticulture and design. Dwight was destined to tend the earth and create beauty. As his sisters made mud-pies in the sandbox, Dwight was forming towns, landscaped with cuttings from bushes and a flowing garden-hose river. He would draw "ugly" houses to demonstrate, with crayon, an amazing transformation provided by landscaping. Dwight's first landscaping project was his Tipton family home which he maintained from his young teens forward. Driving his grandfather's old green Ford pickup truck, Dwight's landscaping journey began with a shovel, which led to Purdue University where he earned his degree in landscape design. Following graduation, Dwight traveled to Barefoot Bay, Florida where he discovered a new realm of landscaping, void of Indiana winters and full of tropical beauty. Dwight made his home there with his drawing board and a passion. His customers became family, his neighbors friends, and his work environment home. Through the years, Dwight was employed through Rock City Gardens, Nelson's Nursery, Horizon Landscaping, Oslo Oaks, and most recently, Smith and Company Landscaping. Dwight reluctantly left the life he loved on November 19, 2025, after a devastating diagnosis of cancer. He was cared for with much devotion by his sister, Deanna, her family, and Legacy Hospice of Carmel. Dwight brought comfort and safety to his grandparents who resided next door and joy to his many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews who made the long journey to visit him in his Florida "paradise". Those who knew and loved Dwight remember best him for his hospitality, dedication to his craft, skillful hand at the drawing board, and mischievous sense of humor. Dwight lived the adage: "If you would like to make footprints in the sands of time, you had better wear work shoes." Dwight has chosen to be remembered, not with ceremony, but with a quiet return to the earth he so honored. Life pictures may be located through Young-Nichols Funeral Home of Tipton, Indiana (www.young-nichols.com). Memorial donations may be given in Dwight's name to: Barefoot Angels of Micco, Florida (barefootangels.org) for their care/support of Barefoot Bay residents. Surviving are Dwight's four siblings (Doug/Diane, Deborah/Douglas Cox, Dwaine/Mary, Deanna/Randy Overdorf), a drawing table, swaying palm trees, blue skies, a world lovingly tended... and a very well-worn pair of work shoes.