Harvey Lee Spindle

Harvey Lee Spindle 3/29/34 – 6/20/24
Our father, Harvey came from humble beginnings and grew up in Parkersburg, West Virginia with his parents and Alice Spindle, his brothers and sisters, Dorothy, Jim, Kathy and Chuck who all precede him, but have now welcomed him home.
As a boy Dad was adventurous and loved the outdoors. He was creative and would get into mischief with his brother, Jim. He made paper airplanes and attached a farmers match so they would crash and burn on the sidewalk.
He loved to draw and sketch. He later painted a rocket heading to the moon which was depicted before mankind ever made the attempt. The painting has hung proudly in his home ever since.
He fell in love and married Aleda Ruth Lemon in Parkersburg West VA and eventually had 4 daughters. They moved to Tucson, Arizona after he developed severe asthma while working in a grain mill. After many years of living in the hot dry desert his breathing problems improved.
Our father worked at various jobs delivering dry cleaning, and later Dr. Pepper deliveries. He worked at an A&W root beer drive-in stand while attending drafting school.
He also took a Dale Carnegie Course "How to Win Friends and Influence people" which led to employment for several years at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson as a 'paste-up artist" doing ad layouts for the newspaper before it went to press.
He loved his daughters and was an involved father who helped make Halloween costumes, on of which was a turtle shell that was too big to fit into the car. He helped with school projects, art projects and he encouraged our hopes and dreams.
Our father showed us that money wasn't necessary to have a great time. We visited ghost towns where he was once chased by a bull, viewed lake Patagonia while admiring its beauty and trekking Mt. Lemon's peaceful wooded areas and we had fun as a family.
Dad showed us great work ethics and taught us that no matter the type of job we had, to always do our best. That advice remained and served us well.
Dad had enthusiasm for life. He loved to socialize and allowed his daughters to have parties at home with their friends. And he had a sense of humor. He enjoyed country music but switched to rock and roll during his daughter's teenage years "to be hip" he said and to be able to enjoy the music with us. He even learned popular rock band names and could name the most popular musicians.
Our father always looked for things that drew his interest and had learned to silk screen and build his own frames. He continued with that after relocating to Tucson and for a short time managed a t-shirt shop across from the University of AZ college campus. He silkscreened t-shirts for ball teams and various other groups, even a local band.
After most of his daughters married and moved away, our father relocated to San Diego, CA., where he continued his work as a paste-up artist for the San Diego Union Tribune Newspaper for a few years.
He later decided to switch careers, and putting his drafting education to work he was hired at Continental Graphics to do technical drawings for Boeing airplane parts.
After retiring some years later, Dad took a position at Green Crest Mobile Home Park where he also resided and threw himself into his job as assistant manager.
When his brother Jim passed away, our father bought his acre of land from his sister-in-law Debbie and moved to Marana AZ where he has lived ever since. While there he renovated his Mobile home, continued with his art projects and learned to make cactus juice with his daughter Cindy and enjoyed the fruits of their labor.
Although he attended the Presbyterian Church in his younger years, Dad was invited by a neighbor and friend to attend a service at the LDS Mormon Church in Marana where he then decided to become a member.
As with the everything else, our father embraced it all and read through the Mormon Bible twice. He was enthusiastic about being involved with the activities of the Church and its teachings snd valued the friends he made there and was invited by his closest ones into their homes. He was happy and busy which helped when he was missing his own family.
He enjoyed discussing Mormon teachings with his sister Kathy in West VA and with his nephew Lee Spindle in Arizona who is also a member of the Mormon church.
In his last few years at home, our father enjoyed listening to the Wille Nelson channel on Sirius XM radio. He loved catching up with friends on Facebook when he could no longer drive.
Above all else our father loved his family, his friends, and being a proud father.
He doted on his nieces and nephews, his grandchildren, and he loved his great-grandchildren just as much.
He will be missed dearly by all who knew and loved him.
He leaves behind his daughter Linda Spindle and her partner Jerry Aubertin, daughter Rita Green, daughter Cindy Riley and her partner Steve Frazer, daughter Debbie Hansen and her husband Eric. Also, Ex-son-in-laws Robb Critney, Paul Green and Mike Brunson with whom he still remained friends and had shared interests.
His grandchildren, Rayna Green, Dawn Green, Jeremy Riley, Laura Brunson and Greg Brunson.
Great grandsons, Chance Oshwaldt, Evan Riley, Jeremy Riley Jr.(J.J) and Alex Riley.
Nieces and Nephews, Loretta Spahr, Cindy Spahr, Terri Spahr, Carl (C.K.) Flinn, Sue Spindle, Lee Spindle and their respective families, and his sister-in-law Debbie Spindle and brother-in-law Carl Flinn.
He is preceded in death by his children's mother, Aleda Ruth Dunn, his granddaughter Sharon Riley-Nunez and his great-niece Brenda Marie Rio.