Obituary for Neal Spencer
Neal is survived by his wife Elaine Carson Spencer, her daughters Shannon Meade Maccioli and Kelly Meade Schiffli both of Gainesville, FL and by his three children Quentin Spencer of Raleigh, NC, Creighton Spencer of Selbyville, DE and Lisa Spencer of Laurel, MT. He was proceeded in death by son Nathan. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren.
Neal spent most of his childhood in Gainesville growing up with brother Jack and sister Gale in a home on NW 14th Avenue. He graduated from Gainesville High School and went on to complete his undergraduate studies at the University of Florida, Gainesville with a degree in agriculture/entomology. He earned a Master’s degree at the University of Missouri and completed all the classwork necessary for his Doctorate. He went on to an over 30 year career with the Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service reaching the position of Laboratory Director for a large agricultural research laboratory in Montana.
His career took him and his family all over the United States and even overseas. His eldest son Quentin was born in American Samoa. Son Nathan in the state of Missouri, daughter Lisa on the island of Guam and youngest son Creighton in Naples, Italy. Neal had served as the director of a overseas USDA laboratory in Rome, Italy for four and a half years. He finished his career at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and briefly resided there before moving back to Gainesville to live out his retirement.
Neal’s Celebration of Life service will be held at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 100 NE 1st Street in Gainesville at 10:30am on Saturday, March 11th. Arrangements are in the care of Milam Funeral Home www.MilamFH.com.
Written by Quentin Spencer on March 3rd, 2023
