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Greencastle, Indiana

Harold Spicer Obituary

Published by Legacy Remembers on May 17, 2017.

Arrangements under the direction of Hopkins - Rector Funeral Home, Greencastle, IN.

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February 25, 2018

Family

Steve Spicer

Posted by Steve Spicer

February 25, 2018

Family

Steve Spicer

Posted by Steve Spicer

February 25, 2018

Family

Steve Spicer

Posted by Steve Spicer

February 25, 2018

Family

Steve Spicer

Posted by Steve Spicer

February 25, 2018

Family

Steve Spicer

Posted by Steve Spicer

February 25, 2018

Family

Steve Spicer

Posted by Steve Spicer

February 25, 2018

Family

Steve Spicer

Posted by Steve Spicer

June 9, 2017

Son

Steve Spicer

The Greatest Generation is suffering depleted ranks at an alarming rate and it lost one of its best this past week in Harold O. Spicer. He was the first in his family to attend college and did so with distinction, matriculating as a Rector Scholar at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN and finishing with a Ph.D. in literature and philosophy from Indiana University. He was the embodiment of "a gentleman and a scholar", not born into refinement but attaining it on his own through persistent hard work. Not given to violence, he nonetheless enlisted in the Navy in 1942 to serve his country and support his comrades. He was pharmacist's mate in the South Pacific, serving the Marines 3rd Division where the life of a medic was all too routinely cut short. Witnessing such horrors matured the naive young man from small town Indiana faster than he could have imagined possible. He carried a solemnity about him for the rest of his life as a result. He married the girl of his dreams, Hilda Templeton, whom he met in his first year at DePauw at "The Boulder", a centerpiece fixture on campus. Apart for his service in the South Pacific, they never left one another's side until her premature departure in 1994. She was the light of his life and he bore an unwavering devotion to her for the final 23 years of his life without her. She was ever-present in his heart. He was kind, generous, selfless, devoted, trusting, and quietly and unassumingly brilliant. He was comfortably conversant on any topic no matter how esoteric. He was quite simply the most intellectual man I've ever known...and yet he was pedestrian and patient to all around him. He never complained about anything to anyone. I'm not sure whether this trait was attributable to the hardships he endured during the Great Depression or as a result of what he witnessed in World War II, but he never complained about anything. Though his father was a stoic, reserved man so common in the early 20th century, Harold was a devoted husband and father, present in the lives of his children and grandchildren, and effusive in his love for them. Inherently shy, he avoided attention and resultingly did not receive the recognition that was his due in many instances. It was altogether fitting that he was a teacher, his patience and caring served to promulgate and develop talent while remaining otherwise largely hidden from view. He took immeasurable pride in the accomplishments of others - his students and his children, both one in the same in many respects in his view.

With his passing this week, the world is slightly smaller in number but vastly diminished in talent and love. God bless you and keep you, Harold Spicer.

May 30, 2017

CC

To the family of Harold Otis Spicer. May the love of family and friends comfort you. Blessed are they that mourned: for they shall be comforted.

May 25, 2017

Tony Trimble

Thursday, May 25,2017

Please accept my deepest condolences on the passing of Dr. Spicer. More than 40 years ago, I took a class with him at ISU called "Law of Mass Communication." Dr. Spicer was an excellent teacher. We met again at Civil War Roundtable a few years ago. Dr. Spicer will be missed but remembered by his students.

Dr. Tony Trimble

May 24, 2017

KEISTON HOLLOWAY

ON BEHALF OF THE COMRADES AND SISTERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INDIANA YOU HAVE OUR DEEPEST CONDOLENCES FOR THE LOSS OF YOUR LOVED ONE AND OUR DEPARTED COMRADE.OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU ALL.SINCERELY VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF INDIANA STATE CHAPLAIN KEISTON R.HOLLOWAY

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Funeral services provided by:

Hopkins Rector Funeral Home

4 Percy L. Julian Drive P.O. Box 882, Greencastle, IN 46135

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