Brian K. Spencer

1960 - 2021

(News Story)
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer


Brian K. Spencer, an electrical engineer by education who made his career at SSOE and advanced to become the company's principal project director, died Aug. 17 in Hospice of Northwest Ohio, South Detroit Avenue. He was 61.

Mr. Spencer, of Whitehouse, developed complications of melanoma, said his wife, Brenda Spencer - but he had health problems for much of his life.

He closed his 30-year career at SSOE Group in the early 2010s. Not long before, he'd overseen a project that became one of the firm's most valuable - a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga - said Tony Damon, retired SSOE chief executive. Mr. Spencer was quoted in an article about the project in the May, 2012 edition of Site Selection magazine.

"He was a consummate professional, an electrician by training, but he had a lot of skills beyond that, personal skills that you don't often find in an engineer, which frankly made him a good project manager and principal," Mr. Damon said. "He could relate to people. He was one of the most kind, patient men I know.

"I had a lot of respect for the way he conducted business, and I think clients did as well, and I think that's why he was so successful," Mr. Damon said.

His patience came to the fore in September, 2001, when he and Mr. Damon were in Swinden, England, for a ribbon cutting at an SSOE project: a Honda plant. They watched the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center from construction trailers on site.

Air traffic stopped for several days. Mr. Spencer remained unruffled as the group had to rebook hotel rooms while waiting for the first possible flight home. He worked through the problem, like an engineer.

"That patience, that calm - he had it, it seemed, all the time," Mr. Damon said.

Mr. Spencer started in 1982 at the firm, founded in Toledo 34 years earlier by engineer Alfred Samborn and later known as Samborn, Steketee, Otis & Evans. He later was a vice president, and was promoted to principal status in 2009.

"His job always challenged him," his wife said.

He was analytical and a good negotiator, said Chris Parran, who worked in information processing.

"Al Samborn made that company a family, and the old guard kept that atmosphere for a lot of years," Ms. Parran said.

Born May 20, 1960, in South Bend, Ind., to Donna and Keith Spencer, he graduated there from Northwest High School, where he played trombone in the band. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan.

Surviving are his wife, the former Brenda Clemons, whom he married July 27, 2002; daughters, Meredith and Samantha Spencer; mother, Donna Spencer, and brothers, Joe, Dann, and Tim Spencer.

Funeral services will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday at Newcomer Cremations, Funerals, and Receptions' Southwest Chapel on Heatherdowns Boulevard, where the family will receive guests starting at noon.

The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. He can be contacted at mzaborney@theblade.com.