John Robert Bobby Spencer

1928 - 2019

John Robert “Bobby” Spencer, D.D.S., died unexpectedly Wednesday evening, October 2, 2019, at Novant Rowan Medical Center. The son of the late Olive Pearl Abernethy and Frederick Brunell Spencer, M.D., he was born September13, 1928, in the family home at 528 South Fulton Street, Salisbury. Dr. Spencer was educated in the public schools of Salisbury and was a member of Class of 1945 of Boyden High School. He attended Virginia Military Institute and graduated from Catawba Col- lege in 1950. He pursued his graduate studies at The Dental School of the University of Maryland , Baltimore, and received his doctor of dental surgery in 1955. After serving two years in the United Air Force, he returned to Salisbury and set up a private dental practice. He retired in 1993. An avid hunter and trapshooter, Spencer was a crack shot and won many trophies at the state and national levels. He was inducted into the North Carolina Trapshooters' Hall of Fame in 2005. At the N. C. Trapshooters Homegrounds in Bostic, one of the trap fields is named for “Doc” Spencer, as he was affectionately known to his shooting pals. In 2010 he was recognized at the Grand American Trapshoot (the national tournament) for his forty consecutive years of attendance and participation. Earlier in his shooting career, he was president of the Rowan County Wildlife Association. He was a member of the American Dental Association, North Carolina Dental Society, and served terms in the Rowan County Dental Society as secretary, treasurer, and president; a life member of the Amateur Trapshooters Association, a life member of the N. C. Trapshooters Association, Historic Salisbury, Inc., and Rowan Museum, Inc. From childhood, he was a member of the First United Methodist Church where, at one time, his grandfather, the Reverend Dr. Joseph Edgar Abernethy, was pastor. He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers, Frederick Brunell Spencer, Jr., M.D. and Allen Spencer, M.D. He is survived by his wife, Betty Dan Nicholas Spencer, and children Gay Kathryn Spencer New- some of Rockwell; John Robert Spencer, Jr. and wife Laura Tripp Spencer of Charlotte; brother James Edward “Pat” Spencer of Salisbury; and grandchildren William Spencer Newsome and fi- ance, Cindy Ellis, of Advance; John “Jack” Robert Spencer III and wife, Ann Sauvain Spencer , James “Jim”Anderson Spencer of Memphis, Tennessee; sisters-in-law, Marlene Peeler Spencer and Pamela Childers Spencer of Salisbury; four nephews, Frederick “Rick” Brunnell Spencer III of Gig Harbor, Washington, Mark Lewis Spencer of Salisbury, Steven Allen Spencer of Charlotte and Burton Scott Spencer of Duluth, Georgia. Five stepchildren and their families also survive. They are Anne Scott Gilliam Clement and husband Donald Clement III, Tyler Laurence Speir, Ruth Nicholas Clement, Marlee Eva-Melene Speir of Salisbury ; Mary Duane Gilliam Hale and husband Charles Herbert Hale, Jr., of Morehead City, Mary Charles Hale of Durham and Charles Herbert Hale III of Morehead City; Melene Nicholas Gilliam Hatcher and husband, Walter Benjamin Hatcher, M.D., and Laura Anne Hatcher of Fayetteville; Murtis Maynard Gilliam Worth and hus- band Walker Yeatman Worth III, of Fayetteville, Rebecca Anne Keefe and husband, William Kwas- nick of Southern Pines, John Gilliam Keefe, and Walker Yeatman Worth IV of Fayetteville; and Joseph Duane Gilliam Jr. and wife Jan McDonald Gilliam of Fayetteville. S ERVICE : Graveside service at 2:00 p.m. today at Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Salisbury. M EMORIALS : John Robert Spencer Endowment Fund, Rowan Public Library, 201 W. Fisher Street, Salisbury, N.C. 28144; or First United Methodist Church Music Fund, 217 S. Church St., Salisbury, N.C. 28144