Paul Harrison Spencer, 91, of Alstead died on Friday, August 22, 2014 at Maplewood Nursing Home in Westmoreland. He passed peacefully with his family close at hand after a period of declining health.
Paul was born on February 27, 1923 in Hartford, CT, the son of Mary (Carrier) and Llewellyn Truman Spencer. After growing up in Hartford and New Haven, he attended Yale University. His studies at Yale were set aside for about two years when he was called to serve as a cryptographer in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He was based in India, but in the course of his service, he circumnavigated the globe. Paul then returned to Yale to complete a bachelors degree in English Literature in 1947.
After college, Paul worked briefly in insurance and advertising before becoming a production editor and manager at the textbook publisher Prentice-Hall in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. He retired in 1986 after a career there lasting more than 30 years.
On August 4, 1957, Paul married Cynthia (Capps) Pomeroy at the Unitarian Church in Brooklyn, New York. They were happily married for fifty-five years until she passed in 2012. They were devoted parents to two daughters, Miranda and Susannah.
Paul was a lover of the arts, especially opera, classical music, theater and science fiction and fantasy literature. He directed and performed in amateur theater productions throughout his life. He is known for his editorial work with early science fiction author David H. Keller and for being one of the producers of Kalki, the magazine of the James Branch Cabell Society. He collected the works of Keller, Cabell, Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Tarzan), HP Lovecraft, August Derleth, Robert Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian), Mark Twain and others.Paul was a gentle and compassionate companion to his family and friends. He had a silly sense of humor and often adopted other personas during conversation for comic effect. He enjoyed foreign languages and read and spoke French and German.
Mr. Spencer is survived by his two daughters and their husbands: Miranda C. Spencer and her husband, Robert Brulle, of Hoboken, NJ and Susannah S. Mitchell and her husband Christopher of Grand Junction, Colorado. He also leaves a grandson, Benjamin Paul Mitchell, of Grand Junction, CO. In addition, he will be missed by his sister-in-law, Nancy Dennett and her husband Walter Gartner of Sonoma, CA and brothers-in-law Peter Dennett of West Bath, ME and Richard Metcalfe of Farmington, CT, along with many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. Paul is preceded by his wife Cynthia Spencer and his sister, Joan Metcalfe.
In keeping with Mr. Spencers wishes, all services will be private. Donations can be made in memory of Paul Harrison Spencer to: Foundation Fighting Blindness, P.O. Box 17279 Baltimore, MD. 21297-17297 or www.FightBlindness.org.
All services are under the direction of Cheshire Family Funeral Chapel and Crematories, 44 Maple Ave. Keene, NH. 03431. www.cheshirefamilyfh.com.
