Cecil Spain

He graduated from Georgetown High School in 1954, having earned letters in baseball, track, and football all four years. He attended McMurray College in Abilene, Texas on a full scholarship as an athletic trainer, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics in 1958. He was married to Anita Mashburn Spain from 1958 to 1986.

Cecil taught high school mathematics in Denver City, Texas and earned his Master of Arts degree attending the University of South Carolina during the summers on scholarship from the National Science Foundation. He also officiated high school football and basketball games in West Texas for several years.

He was a member of the U. S. Army Reserve from 1954 to 1960.

He worked for Steck-Vaughn Publishing Company in Austin, TX for more than 20 years as an Editor, Sales Manager, and President. He then also worked for Graphic Learning in Boulder, CO, and for Continental Press in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, before retiring in Littleton, Colorado.

He married Elise Durham in 1987, and they moved to Plano in 2006. He was a member of the Richardson East Church of Christ.

Cecil’s brother, Dwight Spain, lives in Plano with his wife Jean. They have two married children and two grandchildren. Cecil’s brother, Reford, passed away in 1991, and is survived by three daughters, four granddaughters, and one great grandson in New York State. Cecil’s sister, Rowena, passed away in 2004, and is survived by two grandchildren and six great grandchildren in Austin, Texas.

Cecil loved traveling to the national parks, especially in the Rocky Mountains, but he also took trips all around the US and to Canada, Mexico, Europe, and South Africa. In recent years, he enjoyed playing 42 at the Plano Senior Center with the friends he made there. He liked listening to Frank Sinatra sing. And he loved his family who all gathered to help him celebrate his 80th birthday just one month ago.

Cecil was an intelligent, gentle, kind, generous, and fun loving husband, brother, uncle, neighbor, and friend. He was much loved and will be greatly missed.