Spencer retires serving 33 years in TCC finances

By Carlos Raigosa, edior-in-chief

     There are companies where a few people wear many hats and others where employees wear only enough to cover their duties.
     The latter cannot be said for TCC’s recently retired vice-chancellor of business affairs, Joe Ed Spencer, whose resume resembles an eclectic biography of a well-traveled and experienced business veteran with a splash of administrative endeavors that kept him busy for much of his adult life.
     His beginnings were in the small town of Alpine, where he received a bachelor degree in general business from Sul Ross University.
     Spencer would stay at the school and teach for three years while “by surprise,” as he put it, assuming the dean of men position.
     “Dr. Bryan Wildenthal, the president at Sul Ross at the time, asked me to take over the recently vacated dean’s position,” he said. “That’s how I got my start in the administrative side of the higher education system.”
vThis position allowed him to “gain valuable knowledge and experience in the areas of student activities, financial aid, counseling, campus security and housing.”
     He went on to Texas A&M to earn his master’s in business management and a certificate in Advanced CBMI from the University of Kentucky at Lexington. Spencer also holds a certificate in CBMI from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, which he received in 1971.
     His days at TCC began as the bursar on South Campus in 1974. Before being promoted to his last position, vice-chancellor of business services, in 1989, Spencer served as director of purchasing and director of business services for the district.
     He said his original target date for retirement was age 65, but with Dr. Leonardo de la Garza’s arrival at the college, he decided to add “a couple of years” to his career.
     “I didn’t want to leave the district without giving Dr. de la Garza some assistance,” he said.
     Spencer’s new agenda will consist of relaxing at his ranch in Alvarado, near San Angelo, with his wife of 41 years, their two children and five grandchildren.
     He will continue a limited role with the college and plans to keep busy while assisting his church, Steppingstone Christian, in building a new sanctuary. He is currently board chairman of the church and has served as an elder and finance chairman for the congregation.
     Spencer did some studies with the city of Fort Worth and was part of the Lancaster Redevelopment Committee, which is attempting to develop a “Sundance Square-like district near the May Owen Center,” Spencer said.
     His many years of service to the college district allowed a change that not many others in the educational field could duplicate, but his ability to adapt and better himself allowed him to survive and begin his new life.
     Spencer returned to South Campus, where he started his TCC career, for a reception honoring his contributions to the college. After praising Spencer, Dr. de la Garza played a harmonica solo to recognize a man who was a friend and an advisor to many at TCC.
     His new life means more involvement with his family and friends, even though TCC, his second family, will not be far from his heart.