Spencer R. Nobles

July 20, 1962 – November 13, 2017

Join us in celebrating Spencer and a life well lived.

Always enthusiastic about life. At his birth, the doctor only had time to get into position to catch Spencer, before he started his adventurous journey.

His love for music led him around the world, meeting all kinds of people. He started at the age of eight singing with the Golden Gate Boys Choir. There, he traveled up and down the California coast performing. On one memorable occasion Bing Crosby accompanied them in a performance. After high school he moved to Orcutt, CA and started singing with the Santa Maria College Choir. It was at this time that he started his long career of political awareness and poking of the establishment. His choir was a part of a cultural exchange program spanning several years. One trip was to Poland before the Iron Curtain fell. Spencer would tell stories of people sneaking letters into his choir robe sleeves, to be smuggled out and mailed from the states. His stories from a later trip to Russia just after the Curtain fell were a bit wilder. All about closing bars and clubs celebrating New Year’s Eve with the Russian Mob in Moscow. Thankfully they did let him come home from both trips. Later in his thirties and forties he sang locally with the Gateway Men’s Chorus of St Louis.

His political awareness led him to be very active with in his community. While he lived in Little Rock, AR, he was responsible for spearheading the organization of the local bar and restaurant fundraising efforts for the Ryan White Foundation. Spencer was recognized several times by the foundation with Awards of Hope.

But Spencer wasn’t just about music and politics. He was also an avid traveler visiting places like Canada, France, Norway and others.

He loved to spend time with his nieces and nephews sharing his love of life and the natural world. Sometimes more than any sane parent wanted. He was that crazy Uncle Spencer that mooned somebody from a moving car at the drop of a hat. His love of nature started with his first rock collection at the age of five. He fostered this love of nature and rock collecting in the next generations. This love never stopped as anyone who has spent time in his yards will attest. He would raft as often as he could and was a vocal advocate for the cleanup of the Buffalo River.

Spencer was an avid cook and would feed his friends and family as often as possible. His holiday meals would be warm gatherings full of food and laughter.

We are sure that there are many more stories that Spencer did not tell his mother. And with his wild side maybe it’s better that way.

The tapestry of his life wove through all of our lives and left us much richer for his having been here. So let us Celebrate his life. Remember the lessons taught, tears shared and laughter multiplied.

We ask that you go out and do one thing that was ‘Spencer’ to you…sing a song, float a river, gather rocks, streak your friends, travel to a new place, go to the casino, mentor a child, love those puppies, raise a glass and toast life.

Spencer requested that no memorial services be held. However we invite you to participate in his celebration garden. We have gathered some of Spencer’s rocks and yard art and will make a garden in his honor in Virginia. We ask that you do something fun that Spencer would have enjoyed or tell a story of a memory of you and Spencer. Send these to the email address: do.a.spencer@gmail.com. We will include a stone in his garden with your memory/activity.