Louis Spencer passed away 12/29/2020 at St. Luke’s hospital surrounded by his loving family. He was a loving husband to Donna (Perry) Spencer. Born in New Bedford, the son of the late Louis and Ruth (Bernard) Spencer, he lived most of his life in Dartmouth and on the waterfront of New Bedford. Louis came from a long line of whalemen and commercial fisherman based out of Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and New Bedford.
Louise attended the Dartmouth public school system and was continually active in sports and numerous clubs. In his senior year at Dartmouth High School, he built a full-size WWI era Fokker D7 biplane as a school project which was later donated to a museum. Being very mechanically minded, Louis loved working on cars and boats and there wasn’t anything mechanical he couldn’t fix. One of his sayings when confronting an unusually hard problem, “Man built it, man can repair it.”
In addition to cars and boats, he also loved cycling. He cycled thousands of miles touring the Northeast coast of the US and Canada, as well as cycling cross country three times with friends and family.
Using his superior mechanical abilities, Louis worked his way through college by working as a BMW/ Mercedes/ Volvo technician at Dartmouth Auto Works. He also fished on various Spencer family draggers and quahog skiffs with his father in high school as well as through college. He graduated from SMU with a degree in mechanical engineering.
After graduation, Louis used his love of the sea and his mechanical abilities to secure a job working as chief engineer on several offshore crab processing vessels helping to design and repair many innovative mechanical systems for catching, processing, freezing, and boxing crabs all done offshore. Working on the F/V Taurus, he made many lasting friendships he maintained to this day.
In 1988, Louis married the love of his life, Donna and they settled down in the North end of New Bedford to start their family. With his growing family, he went to work shoreside for Atlantic Coast Fisheries in New Bedford as Special Projects Director. It was here, using his engineering and mechanical skills, he developed an innovative process of turning fish waste into fertilizer and pharmaceutical products.
In the late 90’s he cofounded his own company, Advanced Marine Technologies with his brother-in-law, Ira Perry and Jeff Young making Organic Gem liquid fish fertilizer, a bio-stimulant using fish waste from seafood processing plants. During this same time period, he also relocated his family to his hometown of South Dartmouth. Lou was well known on the New Bedford waterfront and loved by everyone. His employees were especially fond of him and his generosity and kindness. He was the President of the company up until his death.
In his spare time, Louis enjoyed sailing with his family, traveling the globe, reading, history, museums, and of course, cars of all vintages. He was a supporting member of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Herreshoff Marine Museum, as well as few others. He was also an expert on the history of the RMS Titanic. Although a man of many interests, his true love was his wife, Donna and his children, Sarah and Alden. Louis would do anything for his family and was immensely proud of the fine adults they both became. His son, Alden, continuing the Spencer maritime tradition as a licensed yacht captain and his daughter, Sarah is a nurse.
With his recent declining health, he was able to continue to work from home. He is survived by his loving wife of 32 years, Donna and his two children, Sarah and Alden; his brother-in-law, Ira and wife, Lesley Perry and their two children, Cameron and Conner; brother-in-law, Bruce Perry of Arizona; brother-in-law Donald Perry of Westport; sister-in-law Sue Dulong and her husband, Ron of Dartmouth and their two children, Megan and Callie. Also in-laws Donald and Renate Perry of Dartmouth and one grandchild, Landen Spencer. In addition to his family, Louis leaves behind countless lifelong friends, acquaintances, and business associates.
Visiting hours will be held on Monday, January 4, 2021 from 4-7 p.m. in the Waring-Sullivan Home at Dartmouth, 230 Russells Mills Rd., Dartmouth. His Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 at 10 a.m. in St. Mary’s Church, 783 Dartmouth St., Dartmouth. Burial will follow in South Dartmouth Cemetery. For online tributes, please visit: www.waring-sullivan.com
Please be advised that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there are strict guidelines that must be adhered to for the safety of everyone. You must wear a mask to be allowed entry to the services. Please practice social distancing and avoid any close contact. Guests will be permitted to pay their respects and depart to allow the next guests to enter. Capacity at the funeral home will be limited so there could be wait times outside the funeral home. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
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