Louis David Spaw Jr.

Louis, also affectionately known as Opa, Dee, and LD by family members, is survived by three children and their spouses: Wanda and Arthur Niebuhr, David and Joan Spaw, Richard and Joan Spaw; and his late daughter Carol’s husband, Rick Droker; sisters and brothers, Joy and Gerald Carson, Bob and Brenda Spaw, and Elsie Spaw. In addition, he has nine grandchildren and spouses: Laura and Carlos, Angie and Fred, James and Aimee, Mary and Bryan, Sonia, Erin, Noah, Helen and Jacob, and Carolyn; as well as seven great grandchildren, Samantha, Aidan, Liana, Katya, Miles, Phoenix, and Addison. He was preceded in death by his dear wife of 66 years, Wanda Hoencke Spaw; his daughter, Carol Dianne Spaw; his daughter-in-law, Mary Nell Reck; grandson, Jason Reck; and brothers and sisters, Ray, Bill and Dottie and Alberta Spaw.

With humble beginnings growing up during the Great Depression on a farm in Texas, Louis accomplished much in his lifetime both professionally and personally. His endeavors have made both a visible impact on the physical landscape of the city of Houston, as well as had a lasting, positive influence on the individuals he touched. Louis was devoted to his family and faith, as well as being a highly successful businessman and an outstanding community leader.

Louis attended the Rice Institute, graduating in 1940 with a degree in Civil Engineering. There he met his wife, Wanda Hoencke, as well as his longtime business partner, Thomas Franklin Glass, Jr. During WWII, Louis served as Lieutenant and headquarter company commander of the 87th Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees), where he supervised construction of airports on a number of islands in the South Pacific. After the war, he returned to Houston with his family and worked briefly for Farnsworth and Chambers, superintending the construction of the original MD Anderson Hospital Building.

In 1953, Frank Glass and Louis Spaw reunited and founded the construction company, Spaw-Glass, Inc., with the help of several friends and total assets of $27,000 cash and their two autos. Many years of successful and challenging building followed as the company expanded into one of the leading construction companies in Houston and the US. As he and Mr. Glass built the organization, Louis transformed his craft with the pioneering use of a variety of tools and techniques, while maintaining the highest standard in ethical conduct. Although he was very successful in the construction business, his main enjoyment in life was to help build people. He was respected and loved by the many people he touched in business and throughout the community.

Louis served in a broad range of positions at the First United Methodist Church, Houston, including the Chairman of the Administrative Board and the Board of Trustees, was a distinguished member of the American Society of Professional Engineers and President of the Houston Branch, President of River Oaks Rotary Club, Advisory Board and President of Juvenile Court Volunteers, President of the Rice University Alumni Association and member of the Board of Governors, Board of Trustees of Methodist Retirement Services, and an initial founder and Board Member of Clarewood House Retirement Community. In 1984 he was selected Outstanding Rice University Engineering Alumnus, and in 1988 he received the Houston Engineer of the Year Award.

Louis’s commitment to service can be summed up in his own words, “I am convinced that personal fulfillment can only come to a person who can come near to forgetting himself in the process of helping make the world a better place for people to live; following the Golden Rule; being honest with everyone, including himself.”

The family wishes to thank and acknowledge the amazing staff at Clarewood House for their kind and loving care of Louis.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from four o’clock in the afternoon until seven o’clock in the evening on Wednesday, the 27th of October, at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

A memorial service is to be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday, the 28th of October, at First Methodist Church of Houston, 1320 Main Street in Downtown Houston. Immediately following the service, all are welcome to join the family for a reception in the church’s Fellowship Hall.

A service of remembrance will also be conducted in the Chapel of Clarewood House on Wednesday, the 27th of October, at half-past ten o’clock in the morning.

In lieu of customary remembrances, and for those desiring, memorial contributions may be directed to the First Methodist Church, 1320 Main St., Houston, TX, 77002; the Louis D. Spaw, Jr. Endowed Scholarship at Rice University, Office of Development, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX, 77251; or to Clarewood House, Inc., 7400 Clarewood Dr., Houston, TX, 77036.