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Grace Spindler, 95, of Creston, formerly of Benton, Ark., died at Greater Regional Hospice Home on August 24, 2015.
Memorial service will at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Crest Baptist Church in Creston with visitation from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Pastor Chuck Spindler will officiate. Burial will be at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn. Memorials can be given to Crest Baptist Church or HCI Greater Regional Hospice Home of Creston. Online condolences can be given at www.powersfh.com.
Grace Ila Spindler, daughter of Alice Sophia (Payne) Brant and Herbert Wiley Brant, was born April 19, 1920, in Dunkerton, Iowa. Grace graduated from Oelwein High School in 1937. She attended Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., and then transferred to Grinnell College, graduating with a B.A. in music education. Prior to marriage, she taught music for two years at Seymour (Iowa) High School. It was there she met her future husband, who was also a teacher.
On June 26, 1943 Grace was united in marriage to Charles Robert Spindler in Kirksville, Mo. They lived in Vero Beach, Fla., where Charlie trained as a Navy pilot and then settled in the Galveston, Texas area, where he served as a flight instructor for the duration of WWII.
After the war they lived in St Louis and Marshall, Mo., but spent the majority of their married life in Tennessee. In Memphis, Grace was a homemaker, but continued her teaching of music, giving both private voice and piano lessons. She also was a volunteer pianist, organist and vocalist in each church in which she was a member. After three of her five children were grown, she began working at the Memphis State University Music Department Library, while taking master’s level classes in library science. She was also employed by the Memphis Public Library. After her husband’s retirement from Memphis State University, the couple settled on Kentucky Lake in rural Paris, Tenn. in 1984 and later moved to Benton, Ark. in 1995. A year after Charlie’s death, Grace moved to Creston in November of 2006, living at Crest Ridge Estates the majority of that time and continuing her love for books by coordinating the library there.
Grace’s commitment to Christ has been evident in her love of His church throughout her life. She demonstrated her love for Jesus Christ through her own personal Bible study and her love for His church by leading small group Bible studies, continuing this activity of leadership even into her nineties. Of those churches in which she grew spiritually as an adult and served faithfully were: Cherokee Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn.; New Harmony, Paris, Tenn.; First Baptist Church in Benton, Ark.; and Crest Baptist in Creston.
Grace is survived by her four daughters: Karen (Don) Wade of Richmond, Va., Valerie (Harry) Thomas of Foley, Ala., Linda Spindler (Marvin Leibovich) of Benton, Ark., and Mary (Denny) Smith of Lynn Haven, Fla.; a son: Chuck (Myra) Spindler of Creston; 16 grand-children and 32 great-grandchildren.
Grace was preceded in death by her parents; husband Charlie, on Oct. 20, 2005; a granddaughter, Amy Thomas; a great-grandson, Silas Jones, four brothers: Morris, Russell, Randall and Gordon Brant; and two sisters: Naomi Brant and Lucille Hall.