Spencer, Andrew Bailey

Andrew Bailey Spencer, 41, of Blacksburg, died suddenly on Sunday, January 19, 2014. He was born on April 8, 1972 in Wilmington, Delaware, the son of Edward F. D. Spencer and the late Norrine Bailey Spencer.

In addition to his father, he is survived by his wife Melanie and their two children Courtney and Brandon, all of Blacksburg; an aunt Marilee Gordon of Decatur, Illinois; and two cousins, Holly Kay Gray of Cabool, Missouri and Robyn Daugherty of Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Mr. Spencer graduated from Blacksburg High School in 1990 and completed a postgraduate year at the Christchurch School before entering Ferrum College in 1991. He went on to serve in the United States Army’s Corps of Engineers with assignments in Friedberg and Giessen, Germany and Fort Polk, Louisiana. He also completed two tours of duty in Bosnia teaching the former warring factions how to disarm landmines. He was honorably discharged in 2004 and returned to Blacksburg to raise his family.

From 2005 to 2013 he worked at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center first as a Front Desk Clerk, then as Coordinator of Group Reservations and Revenue, and finally as Coordinator of Transient Reservations and the Parent Club. From Fall, 2013 to the present, he worked on the staff of Kroger’s, University Blvd. An Eagle Scout and member of the Order of the Arrow, Sgt. Spencer was a member of Blacksburg Presbyterian Church and helped the church on numerous projects. Ironically, one of those projects was helping to care for the church’s Columbarium where his mother’s ashes rest and where now his will as well.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, January 23, 2014 at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church. A reception will follow in the Church Fellowship Hall.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to a favorite charity or to the Andrew Bailey Spencer Memorial Fund, c/o Blacksburg Presbyterian Church. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg.