Manuel was born on March 27, 1924 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to Samuel and Breindle Spinner, immigrants from Europe. He attended Johnstown High School where he decided he liked the name “Pete” and would be “Pete” from here on out. He would develop lifelong relationships and attend his high school reunions faithfully. There would be ten-year reunions, then every five years, and then every year. When asked, “Didn’t you just attend a reunion?” He would say, “yes, but everyone is passing, so we have to have it every year!”
In 1943, a war was under way and Pete enlisted in the Army where he underwent an Army specialized training program at Purdue University. He was discharged in 1944 as Private First Class of the 729th Military Police. Pete then took advantage of the generous educational programs of the government and received an undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1947 in a graduate degree in Civil Engineering from Harvard University in 1948.
After graduating, Pete then worked for a construction company that had contracted with the Army Corps of Engineers to build a dam on Burr Oak Lake in Glouster, Ohio. It was there that Pete would meet the love of his life, his “Buddy” and “Sweetie Pie,” Margaret. Margaret worked for the telephone company and Pete would come by to pick up his messages each day. Romance blossomed and Pete and Margaret would marry on November 9th, 1949.
Pete and Margaret lived in Cincinnati, Ohio where Pete worked for Bill Ward Construction. When a son was born in October 1950, Mr. Ward told Pete, “I’ll give you a $100 if you name your son after me.” “A hundred dollars was a hundred dollars” Pete would say, and David William was named. A daughter, Pamela Ruth, followed 18 months later.
In 1952, Pete was offered a job at Ford Motor Company as a Construction Cost Estimator and in 1955 received a promotion to Supervisor of the Production Equipment Department where he would be involved in establishing the Nashville Glass Plant in Tennessee. Pete would also become an instructor at the University of Tennessee Extension (Evening) School. The family would spend some wonderful years in Nashville, having many fish fries and barbeques at the house and enjoying the southern life.
In 1963, another promotion would take the family to Michigan where Pete would begin applying project management techniques to his work. This endeavor evolved into his becoming the leading authority at Ford in applying these techniques in facilities engineering and construction, product planning and development and advanced engineering projects. Additionally, Pete conducted seminars under the sponsorship of several universities and trained hundreds of Ford personnel on these techniques. Pete authored three books, Elements of Project Management, Improving Project Management Skills and Techniques and Project Management – Principles and Practices.
Pete loved to exercise. Before running became popular, Pete and his “Oatmeal Gang” ran the streets of Michigan and then would stop at their favorite restaurant and order oatmeal—hence the “Oatmeal Gang.” His running continued and he trained and ran in the Detroit Marathon at the age of 58.
After 35 years at Ford, Margaret and Pete would retire to Boca Raton, Florida where they built a home they dearly loved and entertained often. The pool was Pete’s pride and joy where he would spend an hour each day doing water aerobics to big band music. They loved to travel and would spend time in Europe and going on road trips. Visiting historical sites and presidents’ homes was a favorite, as Pete was quite the history buff. But Las Vegas had an allure for both Margaret and Pete where they loved the shows and the challenge of winning. When traveling became too difficult, they would make a short drive to the casino in Florida where they would gamble a little (or a lot), have some lunch, and either come home with a few dollars or none—it didn’t matter, they were together and having fun.
Pete would spend his last couple of years with Margaret in a retirement community in Mt Juliet, Tennessee, not far from where they lived in Nashville in the early years. Pete became known as “Mr. Pete” and was loved by everyone. He would wear a “white sport coat and a pink carnation” on days when one of the entertainers would come and he would sing along stamping his feet with Marty Robbins’ song. Pete wore his Army hat, his Harvard lanyard and Miami Dolphins shirt proudly–he would never give up on his beloved Dolphins even when the score was 59-10 in the fourth quarter.
Above all, Pete was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He cared deeply for all his relatives and was a friend to everyone. In his last days, Pete said, “God, did you forget about me down here? I’ve done all I can here and I’m ready to do some good up there.”
Pete will be fondly missed by his wife Margaret of 70 years, daughter Gayle (Paul) Short of Smyrna, Tennessee, son David (Ligaya) Spinner of the Philippines, daughter Pam (Mike) Ling of Golden, Colorado. Grandchildren, Lynn and Mark Hatcher, Corey, Shane and Jesse Ling, Joshua Spinner, Debbie Tucker and Esther Spinner. Great grandchildren, Noah, Brenden, Christopher, Drew, Nicholas and Logan. Sister Eleanor Goren and cousins Nina Spinner-Sands and Lynn Mirtenbaum, in addition to many nieces and nephews.
Preceded in death are parents, Sam and Breindle Spinner, brother David, sister-in-law Mildred Rosenbaum, brother-in-law Fred Goren, aunts and uncles Aron and Paula Spinner and Alex and Gloria Spinner.
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