John Spellman

John David Spellman

1935 - 2024

John David Spellman passed away on December 5th, 2024, in Santa Maria, CA at 89 years of age following a long journey with dementia. John was born on July 27, 1935, to John and Elsie Spellman of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The eldest of three boys, John was known for his creative ingenuity, solid guidance, and bike route capabilities. As a boy, he attended St. Peter 's Catholic School, was an active Boy Scout, maintained a paper route delivering Milwaukee Journals, and spent many afternoons delivering prescriptions all over town for Langmack 's Drug, rain or snow.

In high school, John built a Christmas display that he put up each year, complete with colored lights that changed. This was perhaps the first signs of his future in electrical engineering. He would also build an Ohm voltmeter, an oscilloscope, and a Tesla Coil before leaving for college.

After high school, he attended University of Wisconsin, Madison where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1959. While a student at UWM, he was made an undergraduate assistant under Dr. Preston Hammer in the Numerical Analysis department after scoring highest on the Numerical Analysis course test that he was auditing. His proficiency was shown on various research projects, including a research assignment for De Lavelle and James Way Manufacturing, tasked with computing data that would help accurately calibrate the quantity of milk in containers at dairy farms, setting the way for standardizing graphs used by the dairy industry in future years.

After graduation from the University of Wisconsin in 1959, John completed his ROTC commitment, reporting as second lieutenant to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Originally receiving orders to be a radio officer destined for Europe, John was instead asked to stay stateside, in charge of equipping the Army's signal school with a new computer lab that would be used to teach computer applications and data processing to all branches of service. He was in charge of designing and overseeing the lab, as well as being an instructor in the Automatic Data Processing Committee, Special Subjects Division. From 1962 to 1965, he was a captain in the Army Reserve, during which time he would go on to work for North American Aviation which would later become Rockwell International. With a career spanning over 30 years, John's responsibilities went from field test engineer to being in charge of the staff overseeing computer test results of the Minuteman, then Peacekeeper and finally the SICBM missiles at VAFB. During his tenure at Rockwell, John won citations for outstanding achievement to his contributions to the Minuteman program.

In 1972, he married the love of his life, Kathleen King on the Central Coast and they spent many years together polka dancing, entertaining friends, and enjoying life at their second home in Santa Barbara. When in Santa Maria, the pool at their home in Foxenwoods became the gathering area for their children and grandchildren.

Throughout his adult life, John remained passionate about photography and film. Once retired, he spent time enjoying life as a hobbyist photographer (complete with an at-home darkroom he built), a robot builder, and a devoted grandfather. He is remembered by his grandchildren for his impeccable dress and pool parties, his enthusiasm for math, and his calm demeanor and patient teaching moments. To the end, John maintained his firm handshake, twinkling eyes, and ready smile.

He is preceded in death by his parents, John and Elsie Spellman, and nephew, Stephen Patrick Spellman. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Kathleen "Kit" Spellman, stepdaughters Kathleen Biegel, Karen (Joe) Cornwell, and Kimberly (Thomas) Lyon, brothers Patrick (Susan) Spellman and Thomas (Dona) Spellman, seven grandchildren, six great-granddaughters, (with the first great-grandson on the way) and several nieces and nephews.

Visit www.dudleyhoffmanmortuary.com to leave a condolence for the family.