SPENCER, Michael S., 1949-2017

SPENCER, ZEZULAK, SWITZER

Posted By: K. L. Kittleson
Date: 3/12/2018 at 12:36:00

Dr. Michael S. Spencer

September 12, 1949 - August 21, 2017

Dr. Michael S. Spencer, 67, of Cedar Falls, died from complications of stroke, Monday, August 21, 2017, at NewAldaya Lifescapes in Cedar Falls.

He was born September 12, 1949 in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Frank and Helen (Zezulak) Spencer. Mike married Susan Switzer on December 27, 1971. He graduated from Rich East High School in 1967 and earned his BS degree in Economics from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Mike earned his MBA from SIU at Edwardsville and his MS in Economics from the University of Northern Iowa. He completed his PhD in Business Administration in 1992 from the University of Georgia in Athens.

Mike served in the US Air Force from 1971-1975 and was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain. He worked at John Deere Engine Works in Waterloo for 11 years, eventually becoming a supervisor. Mike was an adjunct and assistant professor at Upper Iowa University and an adjunct, associate and tenured full professor at UNI's Curris College of Business, retiring in 2013. He authored three management textbooks and co-authored the American Production and Inventory Control Society dictionary, to which he was past executive board member. Mike was also a long time member of St. Stephen The Witness Catholic Student Center.

He is survived by his wife, Susan Spencer, of Cedar Falls; three daughters: Kathleen Spencer, Cynthia (Jeff) Gillette and Kelsey (Nick) Stark; two sons, Andrew and Austin Spencer; five grandsons: Michael, Isaiah and Ethan Gillette, Caden McKinney and Colin Stark, and two sisters, Mary (George) Schroeder and Joan Spencer-Amado.

Mike was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Teri Spencer, and his son-in-law, Jason McKinney.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. September 9, 2017, at St. Stephen The Witness Catholic Student Center, with burial at Greenwood Cemetery, both in Cedar Falls. Visitation will be 4—6:00 pm September 8 at Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home, where a 4 pm Rosary Service will be conducted. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to CARE, www.care.org. Condolences may be left at www.DahlFuneralHome.com.

SOURCE: Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home