Our Very Own Mr. Wonderful

Wonderful. An overused word. Webster defines it as marvelous or amazing. An adjective used to describe a place, a meal, a movie. But a person? For Dick Spence, however, it fits perfectly.

Married to Leanne for 56 years, father of three grown children and six grandchildren, Dick has an uncanny, well-intentioned, incredibly kind way of making any place or situation better, comfortable, and interesting. Quite simply, wonderful.

Dick was born in Illinois in 1936, the youngest of three. Dick’s father was an executive with American Can. Soon after, the family moved to Utah where Dick realized his ability to get along well with strangers. At age 9, the family moved to Berkeley, California with its different kind of culture, and Dick discovered his knack to get along with kids from all kinds of backgrounds brought him new friendships. That only reinforced his intuitive ability to listen and support others. He also learned from his mother, who was very social, how to adapt. Dick recalled a special moment that impacted him deeply. At age 4, his mother took him to the library. Dick added, “Everything seemed so big and magical. All those books to read.”

He was an above-average student, and by the time the family moved again, this time to New Rochelle, New York, Dick had learned “to float. He played football, made friends easily, and adapted to yet another different town, aware of making a conscious choice “to fit in.” As a teenager, he also began testing his boundaries and discovered he had a clear sense of right and wrong.

After several years of college, he joined the workforce and took an outside sales job with American Airlines. He called on travel agents and corporate departments and found his ability to build relationships invaluable. He then joined Blue Cross where he met his wife. After they married they moved several more times, deciding to leave the corporate world in 1977 and move to Oregon to run her dad’s paint and wallpaper store in Tillamook. In 1992, with the kids grown, the couple moved to Wilsonville where Dick joined the Logistics Group at Xerox.

His involvement in the community began immediately. By now, having recognized he always needed to be “on the move, he first volunteered at the library. Named 2011 Wilsonville Citizen of the Year, Dick has continued to contribute his time and leadership to every organization in Wilsonville, from the Chamber to the library and his church. He acknowledges, “I don’t need stuff! I need to be involved with others, helping, pitching in. That’s what it is all about,” adding with that ever present twinkle in his eyes, “You can’t make footprints in the sands of time sitting on the beach.”