Bob Spencer

By Katie Spencer Kingsley (Daughter)

Robert (Bob) Spencer, from BHS class of 1971 and baseball player, was born June 16, 1953 and passed away March 1, 2022. 

Bob was an incredibly beloved person to so many people, and his legacy will be everlasting.  His family, friends, relatives, and loved ones felt the amount of love  and compassion he had with every role he played:  son, brother, father, grandfather, builder, baseball coach, golfer, hunter, friend, and many others.  His tireless motivation to accommodate the needs of everyone around him contributed to the love he had by so many, and he always did so with a smile and infectious laugh.  He will be missed immensely by many and has gone far too soon.  

Bob was born, raised, and lived in Boulder County.  He is survived by his parents, Bill and Betty Spencer, Tina Spencer (sister), Katie and Luke Kingsley (daughter and husband), Kyle and Fabiola Spencer (son and wife), his ex-wife Robin Spencer, and his grandchildren, Brady, Carter, and Alyvia Kingsley.  

Memories of BHS classmates:  

Bobby and I started together at Jack & Jill Nursery School.  We were classmates at Washington and Casey and finally at Boulder High School,.  He was a pitcher on the baseball team and we competed against each other in many different sports growing up.  Chuck Smith

Bob’s own words from 1991 Panther Tales:  

I have had a good life,  Time has been very good to me, although it seems as if there has been an awful lot of hard work . . . day in and day out.  I’ve owned a construction company since 1974; R.A.Spencer Construction, Inc., building residential homes, additions and remodels.  

I got married in October 1983 to Robin.  We have a daughter Katie Marie, 7 years old and a son Kyle Allen 3-1/2 years old.  I wouldn’t trade my family for anything in the whole world!  My wife and children are very precious to me.  

I enjoy the outdoors and LOVE to get away fishing every chance I get.  

Words of wisdom:  “Don’t let the world pass you by.  Enjoy your life, make every moment count.  Hold on to your loved ones.”  

Fondest memory:  Enjoying the good times with my classmates!  

Worst memory:  Mrs. Goeldner

Memories of Robert Spencer’s daughter, Katie:  

The world has lost a hero.  My forever hero.  But he’s not lost for good, for he has earned his angel wings and is no longer suffering.  He fought a hell of a battle against his disease.  Proving again that he never did anything without his every might.  My heart is so very heavy.  As much as you try to “prepare” for something like this, you just can’t.  I am comforted that it is now his turn to watch over and take care of me.  I love you, Daddy, forever and always.  

Katie Spencer Kingsley

Kyle Spencer, son of Bob Spencer, shared the following remembrances with Mary Sigley Brown:

Bob Spencer enjoyed a wonderful youth on North Street in Boulder, right by classmate and dear friend, Barb Vogel! Throughout his entire life, he loved baseball. He was a very notable pitcher who started playing at the age or 4 or 5 with buddies Chuck Smith (catcher), and two pitchers, Pete Johnson and Mark Covert. In little league, Bob played for the “Boulder Larks,” a team within the Skyline Little League. Next, he pitched within the Pony Leagues for the “Boulder Moose.”

At BHS, he was a star pitcher under coach Larry Schultz. A lanky 5’11 and 145 pounds, his future was incredibly bright, with a baseball scholarship to CU, or being drafted by the Pittsburgh
Pirates. Unfortunately, during batting practice one fateful day during his senior year, he suffered a severe knee injury, and his baseball dreams were put on hold. It is worth noting that in the early 1980s, he was playing catch with Boston Red Sox friend and hunting buddy, Tom Burgmeier, who was so impressed with Bob’s pitching, persuaded the Red Sox to include Bob in their spring training that year, uniform and all. They offered Bob a position in the minor leagues, which he declined because his success in construction was escalating rapidly. He always regretted that he didn’t join the minor leagues, yet success was plentiful in every undertaking of his life.

Bob indulged in other interests as the BHS years rolled by. He worked on his red and white ’57 Chevy in the driveway. He could tear out and reinstall the rear end in 30 minutes and get back to cruising with his buddies. He was pretty stealth avoiding cops during his nights cruising Boulder. He especially loved drag racing in Longmont on 17th Avenue. He reported no details or consequences, at least not to family. Over the course of his life, Bob owned an additional three corvettes and always enjoyed going to the Mopar Mile High Nationals at Bandimere with friends and family.

After graduating BHS, builder Herman Hack mentored Bob in construction, primarily with remodels and framing houses in Gunbarrel. His skills ramped up quickly and by 1991, he incorporated his own company as “R.A. Spencer Construction, Inc.” which built custom high-end homes in the Coal Creek development of Louisville, as well as the Broadlands in Broomfield. During the 1990s, R.A. Spencer Construction, Inc. built a lot of high-end homes. His construction work was highly respected, detail-oriented, meticulous, and Bob was published in Builder’s Edge Magazine with him being pictured on the front cover.

In the early 1980s, Bob played recreationally on a coed slow pitch softball team at the Stazio Softball Fields between Arapahoe and Valmont off 63rd Street. There, he fell in love with teammate Robin and they were married in 1983. By 1987 he was a father of a daughter Katie (’84) and a son Kyle (’87) and he loved his family dearly. The Spencer family lived in Gunbarrel until 1997, when Bob built his dream home on Oxford Road between Niwot and Longmont.

His son Kyle recalls that Bob was high energy and stubborn around the house. On weekends he would inadvertently wake everyone (he always got up between 4 and 5 a.m.) as he proceeded to touch up the house with a bottle of Windex, paper towels, Q-tips with paint, and a screwdriver to line up all screw head grooves to be straight up and down. Pool cues were never to be chalked over the carpet, but rather over the table. He didn’t miss even a fingerprint or that darned chalk dust.

Faith was a pillar in Bob’s life. He was baptized at Mt. Zion Lutheran Church, as were his children; he sat every Sunday with his family in the front pew, and he served not only as an Elder, but as the Head Elder for a duration.

As Kyle’s little league coach for 8 years (1992-2000), Bob was intense. He developed signs and trick plays for his team of unknowing youngsters. At age 11, Kyle remembers their team was 16-
0. Practice went for hours. After every game, Coach Spencer awarded an MVP, which included a baseball card from his highly detailed and lifelong baseball card collection. It was always a worthy card, not an insignificant one. He was most generous in presenting a valuable gift (signed memorabilia) to his team’s season MVP.

Bob was not a one trick pony. In addition to baseball, he was a very devoted fisherman (including ice fishing) and got an early start in life by camping and fishing on the Grand
Mesa. Magnificently, he caught one of his largest trout ever, in the first five minutes of his final fishing trip near his beloved area where he hunted elk. A picture of this happy event is in the attached photos.

He was a highly successful hunter of elk, deer, and antelope, finding elk in the same secret and sacred spot for 49 years. He was hoping to reach a full 50 years, but it was not to be. Additionally, bird hunting (pheasant, goose, duck, and quail) was also a favorite sport of his. Bob would invite his buddies camping/hunting, and would try to rouse them from sleep, repeatedly calling “Geemaneez! Come on! Get up! The eggs are getting cold.” When they finally got into Bob’s camper, he’d say “How do you want your eggs?” Trickster, he was! He used the phrase “Geemaneez” for any and all situations involving exasperation.

Snowmobiling and water skiing were also on the list of Spencer family recreational activities. Bob would take his family on his water-skiing boat for knee boarding, water skiing, and fishing; snowmobiling became a passion for the family after getting them to have better access to ice fishing spots throughout the mountains of Colorado. He adored sharing his passions for baseball, hunting, fishing, traveling, and camping with his grandkids as well; he adored them so much and they were such an important part of his life.

Lots of toys filled his adventurous and fun life. He had a Crestline boat, a truck, a pop-up camper, a 5th wheel camper, corvette, snowmobiles, water skiing equipment, fishing equipment, hunting equipment, and more.

Bob’s son, Kyle, waxes poetic over his father, as follows: “Everything I do for fun is from him! He was AMAZING!!!”