Joanna Spencer

1938-2023

Joanna Spencer, loving wife and mother, went to be with her Lord on Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at St Mary’s Hospital in Apple Valley, CA. She was 85 years old. Joanna was born in 1938 to Adrian and Marjorie Recor and attended both elementary school and high school in Carthage, NY graduating in 1956. She attended Albany State Teachers College in New York after graduating from high school. In 1959 the family moved to CA to start a new life settling in Sacramento. Joanna met her husband George Spencer while working at the CA Highway Design Department and in 1962 Joanna married George at the First Methodist Church in Sacramento, CA. Their children David and Margaret were both born in Sacramento shortly there after.

In 1968 the family relocated to Hohenecken, Germany where George worked at Ramstein Air Force Base for government contractor Bendix Field Engineering. After 15 months in Germany, the family returned to the USA and remained at Bendix Headquarters in Maryland remaining there for 10 days until reassigned to the Nasa Tracking Station in Fort Myers, FL. The family stayed in Fort Myers, FL until the station was closed in 1972 and George was reassigned to the tracking station in Quito, Ecuador. In Ecuador, Joanna taught English as a second language at Colegio Anderson, a missionary school for elementary and high school students. Joanna was active in the Nasa Wives and North American Wives Associations. In May of 1975 George was reassigned to the Goldstone tracking station near Barstow, CA in the Mojave Desert.

After the children were older, Joanna worked at the Marine Corps base in Barstow in Computer Data Processing and then in Purchasing as a Contract Specialist. In 1999 George retired from Honeywell and began working on preparing the house to sell and Joanna retired in January of 2001 from the Marine Base in Barstow. In 2003 the family moved to a newly built home in Apple Valley, CA and enjoyed retirement. George and Joanna celebrated their 54th anniversary in May 2016. George passed away in 2017 after a long struggle with Parkinson's. Joanna was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She made her primary focus to care for her family and was a wonderful cook and homemaker. As an organizer and hard worker she frequently cleaned early in the morning and prepared breakfast for the family. She found great joy in cooking and baking for her family and friends. She also liked to sew, knit, crochet and had a green thumb. She had many plants that she cared for around the house and made many beautiful items for her family and friends over the years.

Joanna was gifted musically and was a natural teacher. She had a beautiful voice and received medals for several performances that she did while in college. She also played the ukulele taking after her father, Adrian Recor, who taught her to play growing up. Languages were something that she was really good at and spoke French, Latin , Spanish, German, and English. She had an amazing memory and loved to read. She especially enjoyed mysteries and watching British mystery and drama television shows. Throughout all her years, Joanna was a person of faith and had confessed Jesus Christ as her savior as a child. Psalm 23 was her favorite psalm and she found comfort with the Lord being her friend, taking care of her, and guiding her life.

During her time in Apple Valley, Joanna and George attended Church of the Valley regularly and enjoyed being a part of different Bible studies and support groups. The women’s groups at church became a vital support to her at that time, even during Covid they managed to stay in contact and communicate with one another. Joanna had a very compassionate heart and loved her family and friends very much. She always showed that through her communication, the things that she did for them, and the gifts she gave. Joanna remained in good health up to the time of her getting pneumonia in January of this year. She made some progress in recovery and we recently celebrated her 85th birthday.

Soon thereafter, she peacefully went home to be with the Lord with family by her side. She will be dearly missed by all of her family and friends. Joanna was predeceased by her father and mother Adrian L. and Marjorie E. Recor, sister Linda (Don) Edmondson. She is survived by her son David Spencer, daughter Margaret Bremmer, grandchildren Elijah, Alexandria and Daniel Bremmer, sister Karen Carey, sister Susan Minkler, and many nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held at 11AM on Wednesday, October 18th at Sunset Hills Memorial Park 24000 Waalew Road., Apple Valley, CA. 92307.