Leo John Spaeder Jr.

Leo was born on August 20, 1938 in Erie, PA to the late Leo John Spaeder, Sr. and Frances Margaret Spaeder (née McCabe).

After graduating from Erie Cathedral Preparatory School in Erie, he matriculated to Gannon College, which he paid for paid for by joining ROTC and augmenting with earnings from being a saxophonist in the Swing Jazz band that he founded. He eventually graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University in 1961, where he was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) fraternity and where he sang in the fraternity’s highly regarded glee club. He then served his military obligation in the US Army, rising to the rank of Captain in the Ordnance Corp with postings in Korea as part of the 1st Air Cavalry Division and at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville Alabama. It was during his posting in Huntsville when off-base, that he became a high school basketball referee to pay for flying lessons, and he became a licensed private pilot, flying regularly until the birth of his first son.

Following discharge from the Army, he moved to Pittsburgh and joined the local electrical public utility, Duquesne Light Company, primarily serving the electrical power needs of Light and Heavy Industrial Manufacturing companies in the Monongalia Valley. After obtaining his master’s in business administration (MBA) at Duquesne University he ultimately became Manager of Economic Development for the utility, and then culminated his career in 1990 as Vice President of Marketing and Administration at Penn’s Southwest, which was a non-profit organization that attracted light- and heavy - Industrial companies to southwestern Pennsylvania. After retiring in 1998 he pursued his lifelong hobby and became an avid fisherman, especially along the Youghiogheny River and at Keystone Power dam. He was also mechanically proficient, and fixed everything in his house, including the family cars, nearly his entire life.

He faithfully served his Catholic parish in the Pittsburgh suburb of Forest Hills, St. Maurice, for decades as an Usher, a Fourth-Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and applied his mechanical skills to maintain the facilities of the church and local parish school.

In 2020, he and his wife moved to Galloway Ridge in Pittsboro, NC to be closer to their sons and grandchildren.

In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his brother Major Francis X. Spaeder, his beloved aunt and uncle Beatrice Kraus (née McCabe) and Gerald Kraus, and their son Vincent.

He was lovingly remembered by his wife of 57 years, Frances Spaeder (née Grzejka); his two sons, Tim Spaeder (Ivana) and Jeff Spaeder (Gwyneth) and his five grandchildren (William, Nela, Claire, Lucy, and Nina).

A funeral mass will be held on Thursday, May 4, 2023 at 11:00 AM at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Apex, NC with internment following at the parish’s columbarium.

In lieu of customary remembrances, Leo’s wish was that any memorial contributions be made on his behalf to your place of worship.

Fond memories and expressions of condolences can be shared online at apexfuneral.net for the Spaeder family.