This obituary appeared in
the Payson, Arizona newspaper, The Payson Roundup, some time in the last 7 days.
George “Duke” Spencer died Oct. 14, 2009 in Payson.
He was born May 8, 1927 in Illinois.
Mr. Spencer moved to Payson in 1991. The Army veteran worked for a time as an
actor in Hollywood, appearing in the John Wayne film “War Wagon” and the films
“Hour of the Gun” and “Prison,” among others. He was also a volunteer with the
Special Olympics program.
He is survived by his wife, Annie G.S. Spencer of Payson; son, John Shaffer
Spencer of Chandler; and grandson, Kyle.
There will be a memorial service at 3 p.m., Friday, Oct. 23 at Mount Cross
Lutheran Church in Payson.
Donations in Mr. Spencer’s name may be made to Hospice Compassus or to a
special fund for Annie Spencer at Wells Fargo Bank.
You might wondering who this
guy is and why I posted his obituary. He was my father and much of the information listed in that obituary are lies and mistruths.
George “Duke” Spencer
My father’s name was George
Owen Spencer. Most people called him “Duke” after a figment of my father’s
imagination. He was also called “Sam”, “Owen” and “Guy” at various times
throughout his life.
An Army Veteran
My father was born in May of 1927. This would have made him 18 in
1945. World War II ended in late April and early May of 1945 when the Germans
surrendered. Technically, having been in the Army qualifies you as an Army
veteran. Does that mean one is a “veteran” in the terms we tend to think of? George Owen
Spencer never went overseas, never saw combat and the German surrender ended
his army career.
An Actor in Hollywood
Ahem. This is a ginormous
load of shit. It’s true my father always wanted to be an actor. It’s true he
thought of himself as actor. But the only acting he really did was off camera.
War Wagon & Hour of the
Gun
Both of these films were released
in 1967 and he is not in the credits of either film. No SAG card either. I was
born in 1964. My father was working for the state of Utah during 1965 and 1966.
This means he would have had to have been in two places at once! My mother
moved herself and I from Utah to California in 1967. My father followed that
same year from Utah and probably stepped foot in Hollywood for the first time then.
Prison
He was actually in this one.
He’s in the credits AND he actually worked at the prison where it was filmed. I
also remember he mentioned something about it in a phone call. I’ve never seen it and it’s
not in my top 50 movies to see even if Viggo Mortensen has the lead
Survived By
Ms. Annie G. S. Spencer
would lead all of Payson to believe the man had only one wife and one
child. The truth is he is survived by
FOUR natural daughters. He adopted two sons; one is deceased and the other is mentioned in the obituary. By our count, he had at least five wives.
My first thought was when I saw the e-mail was "He's finally dead". I have not cast eyes on him
in 26 years nor spoken to him in 20. The only
reason we know he is dead is because my sister and I set up Google Alerts to
let us know when an obituary was posted. Although his widow had both my sister's and my mother's telephone numbers, she chose not to call and let anyone know of his death.
The memories my mother, my
sister and I have of him are tainted with lies, betrayal, sexual abuse,
abandonment and loss. We’ve spent years sifting truth from untruth, like
prospectors mining for gold in a pan.
I feel relieved, at peace, and freer.
I have indeed survived him.
