Yesterday I worked from home and had the occasion to take Travis home from his camp at N.C. State. As we approached by the Bryan-Lee Funeral home on Wake Forest Road, I spotted a number of motorcyclists standing around near the street. Passing by, I saw a number of flags planted in the lawn of the funeral home and several motorcycles in the parking lot.
“I wonder what’s up with the flags,” I said to Travis. “It’s not a patriotic holiday. No famous politician died today. I wonder who this is for?”
Tonight I was sad to learn that the honoree was none other than my neighbor, Victor “Vic” Spence. Mr. Spence lived quietly and alone in the home that he built with G.I. Bill money at the corner of Monroe and Madison. I would sometimes see him as I walked the dog past his home. He would always smile and say hello and I’d do the same. Other times I’d see him driving slowly down the street in his dark blue Ford Crown Victoria, wearing his Marine Corps hat and on his way to his usual stool at the Fenton Street Dunkin Donuts. He was there so often that when the Dunkin Donuts finally closed last year the first thing I thought was “what will Mr. Spence do now?”
It was a little while after I’d met him that I learned what kind of a hero this man was. He was 16 years old when he joined the Marines and, after boot camp and a stint as a rifle instructor at Parris Island, Mr. Spence shipped out to Camp Pendleton and then to Hawaii before traveling five-days by ship to the island of Iwo Jima. He witnessed the famous Marine flag-raising on Mount Suribachi in the battle and was later wounded by a mortar that killed five of his friends.
After the war, he returned to Raleigh and got a job working at a sign company. Soon, he got a job with the Raleigh Police Department, serving 22 years. When he suddenly had to make a career move (messing around with the Chief’s wife, he said), he became a deputy with the Wake County Sheriff’s Office. Overall, he spent over 40 years in law enforcement.
The motorcyclists at Mr. Spence’s funeral were members of the Patriot Guard, there to salute his service. I think their gesture is wonderful but I can’t help but think this must have amused Mr. Spence since the four years he spent as a Raleigh motorcycle cop made him hate motorcycles! Regardless, he certainly deserved the honor!
After hearing the news of his death, I drove his house and stopped to chat with his daughter and son in law. Thinking of her father, Cindy Walls laughed and said “he was determined to leave this earth when he found out he could no longer drive.” She gave me directions to his gravesite which I will visit this weekend.
It was an honor to know Mr. Spence. His presence was always comforting to me, and I always looked for him whenever I’d walk by his home, hoping to get a wave. He was one of the Greatest Generation, to be sure, and the world is a better place because of men like him.
Here’s the link to the documentary on Mr. Spence that Cliff Bumgardner created in 2012.
Here’s Mr. Spence’s obituary from the Bryan-Lee Funeral Home site:
Victor Boyd Spence
12/31/1924 ~ 07/18/2015Raleigh- Victor Boyd Spence, 90, died Saturday. Mr. Spence was born on December 31, 1924 to Oris Paschal Spence and Alie Womack Spence in Raleigh.
Vic served in the United States Marine Corps, 5th Division during World War II. In the Battle of Iwo Jima he received a Purple Heart Medal.
Victor was a Raleigh City Policeman and then a Wake County Deputy Sheriff where he retired in 1986 after 40 years of law enforcement service.
Mr. Spence was a 32nd Degree Mason at Hiram 40 Lodge and served as chaplain for several years.
Vic was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth Graves Spence; his brother, Carlos P. Spence; his sister, Julia Spence Hartsfield; and his nephew, Preston O. Spence.
He is survived by his two daughters, Cindy Spence Wall (Sonny) of Wilmington and Vicki Spence Painter of Apex: granddaughter, Robyn Wall Ormond (Grady) of Cary; nephews, Ronnie Hartsfield of Apex and Johnny Hartsfield of Raleigh; niece, Brenda Spence Heins of Gastonia; great nephews , William and Drew Hartsfield of Raleigh; great nieces, Kelly Parker Andrews of Gastonia, Christin Leigh Hartsfield Fejervary of Atlanta, GA, and Rhonda Hartsfield Parrish of Raleigh and their families.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, July 22, at 2 PM at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh. Burial with Masonic rites will follow at Historic Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends prior to the service from Noon until 1:45 PM.
Flowers are welcome, or donations may be made to either Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Road, Suite 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256 (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) or Homes For Our Troops, 6 Main Street, Taunton, MA 02780 (www.hfotusa.org).