Good Bye Grandpa

Last week we packed up the kids and flew to Colorado to spend the week with family and friends remembering my Grandpa, Gramps, Grumpy who passed away just shy of his 80th birthday. I named my son, Hayden Thomas, after my wonderful Grandpa. He was a very important man in my life. He always made me feel like I could do anything. He was more than a grandfather to me. At one point I lived with him growing up when my parents were getting a divorce and the rest of my childhood he lived just down the street. I was his oldest grandchild and he always made me feel like I was his favorite (sorry cousins).

My Grandpa was a real cowboy and true cattleman. He was a gentleman and a loving person. I could call him on the phone at anytime and talk. My Grandpa was a strong man who overcame Polio, left home when he was 17, and raised 6 daughters. He traveled the country for work and always knew the best places to eat in almost any city. He always said that I would eat so much that I would get to be as big as Dallas. I bet he didn't think I would ever move to Texas. I still have a healthy appetite, but I am not trying to be as big as Dallas anymore.

He called me a chatter box, but that didn't stop him from taking me along with him to cattleman's conventions in Orlando and Chicago. My best vacations as a child. While I miss him, I am not sad for him because I know he returned peacefully to his Father in Heaven.

Thomas F. Spencer
passed away April 16, 2009, in Pueblo. He was born on Oct. 14, 1929, near the Missouri River at Leavenworth, Kan. Mr. Tom Spencer was the son of Grover C. and Clara H. (Bollin) Spencer, who preceded him in death. He was a past president and honorary lifetime member of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, past president and 12-year member of the Colorado State Brand Board, past president of the Central Colorado Soil Conservation District and served on the board of directors of the National Cattlemen’s Association and was a 50-year member of the Kansas Livestock Association. Mr. Spencer leaves behind his wife, Mary Josephine Guilfoyle Spencer; and six daughters, Clara Hodge, Mary Hanna, Patty Bruce, Susan (Alan) McNew, Nancy (Michael) Demmler, Laura Jane Spencer as well as nine grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.