01/20/2025
Mr. William Mitchell Spencer, better known as “Bill” to his friends and “Pop” to his beloved family, resident of Nesbit, Mississippi, formerly of Memphis, Tennessee and Cherry Valley, Arkansas, departed this life on Friday, January 17, 2025, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis at the age of 99. Bill was born in Cherry Valley on June 20, 1925, the son of Willie Mitchell and Catherine Chloe (Michles) Spencer.
Bill was inducted into the United States Navy on 18 September 1943, and he was profoundly proud to have been a plank owner aboard the USS Signet (AM-302) meaning he was a member of the ship’s original crew when she was commissioned on 20 June 1944. Bill was a boatswain’s mate on the vessel as she and her crew participated in numerous battles in the Pacific, earning four battle stars in the process. One of Bill’s favorite memories from his time in the Pacific was watching from the Signet as United States Marines raised the flag on Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima on 23 February 1945. Bill was aboard the Signet when she was decommissioned in December 1945 prior to his honorable discharge on 8 April 1946. In later years, Bill greatly enjoyed attending Signet reunions and visiting with his shipmates. He was the last surviving member of the Signet’s officers and crew.
To hear more about Bill’s story, please follow the link to his YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLvFNV-knFA You can also access it by searching William M. Spencer WWII. This is his story for the Smithsonian.
Bill married the former Eva Mae Robertson on October 29, 1951. The couple was blessed with three children and 59 years together prior to Eva’s passing in 2010. In his younger years, some of his best memories were made aback “Tony the Pony” as he worked as a cowboy in Lost Cabin, Wyoming. Throughout his life, he enjoyed fishing, listening to Bluegrass music, and traveling. He dedicated 35 years to his work at Kimberly-Clark in Memphis prior to retiring as a Shipping Clerk Supervisor. He was a member of Bridgetown Baptist Church in Nesbit where he enjoyed attending men’s breakfasts.
Mr. Spencer was preceded in death by his wife, Eva Spencer; parents, Willie and Catherine Spencer; a son, Jeff Spencer; a daughter, Pam Chambers; two brothers, Frank and John Spencer; and four sisters, Irma Thompson, Jewel McClain, Betty Boyd, and Ann Floyd.
He is survived by a daughter, Deborah Spiers of Nesbit; a son-in-law, Clif Chambers of Nesbit; five grandchildren, Reed Young of Nesbit, Mitch Chambers and wife, Amy, of Hernando, Mississippi, Spencer Chambers and partner, Helen Wooldridge, of Bartlett, Tennessee, Kelly Chambers-Sumners and husband, Ray, of Hernando, and Rocky Spencer and wife, Amber, of Nesbit; seven great-grandchildren, Michael Conner, Kayla Conner-Bolanos and husband, Gabe, Preston Chambers, Dalton Chambers, Sam Sumners, Jaxon Chambers, and Luke Sumners; his church family; and a host of other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, in the Thompson-Wilson Funeral Home Chapel in Wynne, Arkansas with Bro. Larry Dean and Bro. Mark Calhoun officiating. Interment will follow in Vanndale Cemetery in Vanndale, Arkansas.
Friends may visit at the funeral home from 1:00 p.m. to service time.
Those honored to serve as pallbearers are Mitch Chambers, Rocky Spencer, Gabe Bolanos, Michael Conner, Ray Sumners, Preston Chambers, and Dalton Chambers. Honorary pallbearers are Reed Young, J.C. McKnatt, Stanley McKnatt, Spencer Chambers, and the deacons of Bridgetown Baptist Church.
Memorial donations may be made to Bridgetown Baptist Church, 2779 Malone Rd., Nesbit, MS 38651.
Arrangements by Thompson-Wilson Funeral Home of Wynne.
