William Bill J. Spencer II

William J. Spencer II, or just "Bill" as he was happy to be called, left us for the heavens in the early morning of Friday, June 7, 2013. Bill was a native Washingtonian and proud American. Born in our nation's capital in 1928, he grew up in Maryland and ultimately settled in Arlington and McLean, Virginia. Bill was of our "national treasures" generation, raised in Silver Spring, MD in a large family with three younger brothers and two older sisters in the wake of the great depression. He experienced World War II in his formative years and served with the Army Corps of Engineers after the Korean War. He married Blanca Castillo Spencer on August 30th, 1963, making a star-matched pair by their twin ages - his Birthday being 08/09/28, and hers, 09/08/28. A model father, he raised four children in eras of tremendous social and economic change, starting in the 1950s and well into the modernity of our new millennium.

An architectural engineer by training, Bill learned the profession of construction project management from 1947 to 1968 with the John McShain Builder's Company (a firm featured in the PBS documentary called "The Man Who Built Washington.") The buildings and projects Bill worked on include numerous DC landmarks, such as the White House renovation, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, John's Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the Kennedy Center and Department of State.

Moving on from John McShain Builders, Bill joined DC's other prominent construction firm, George A. Fuller Co. From 1968 to 1988, projects he managed included the National Cathedral and Twin Towers in Roslyn, the original Gannett headquarters for USA Today. Towards the end of his career, Bill worked overseas in the early 90s on the reconstruction of an Air Base in Kuwait destroyed by the Iraqi occupation during the Gulf War. Of his many life's accomplishments, he fondly recalled helping construct an orphanage in Korea during his military service after the war, as well as the delicate work of the installation of the stained glass rose window above the west entrance of the National Cathedral.

A devotee of real country music, hardy home cooking, the wide open road and the broad vistas of our USA he so loved, Bill was wholesome goodness who epitomized the American spirit. His legacy lives on in his adoring and tenacious wife, their three sons, four grandchildren and two beautiful (baby girl!) great grandchildren. We fill the hole in our hearts with his memory.

Donation's in Bill's memory are welcomed with the The Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Foundation at www.mds-foundation.org, or the Leukemia Research Foundation at www.leukemia-research.org.