Dr. John Francis Spangler, Vmd Obituary (1923 - 2018)

Dr. John Francis "Doc" Spangler, VMD, 95, son of the late Howard Alexander and Marguerite Tipton Spangler, was born March 31, 1923 in Gettysburg, PA. He married Jeanne Spitzer of Harrisonburg, June 21, 1947 at Asbury United Methodist Church where they also celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in 2017. His siblings, Howard Eugene "Gene", Samuel George II, and Richard Edwin "Dick" and his sister-in-law, Frangie Lucas (Gene) preceded him in death. Doc served his community as a compassionate and knowledgeable veterinarian for over 40 years. He visited farms throughout the valley and into West Virginia, often with his border collie, one of his children, or a young person considering a career in veterinary medicine. Primarily a large animal vet, he also opened his office to cats, dogs, piglets, snakes, the pet iguana, etc. He embraced the opportunity to work at Zoorama where he treated zebras, hippopotami and his most unusual, the okapi. He equally enjoyed sharing relationships with the pets' owners and loved telling stories of his experiences. Doc's family and maternal grandparents moved to Rockingham County when he was 10 years old. He graduated from Mount Clinton High School, studied three years at Virginia Tech and started veterinary school until interrupted by World War II. After the war, he met and married Jeanne and finished veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania. After living in Philadelphia, Warm Springs Virginia, and Emmitsburg, Maryland, they returned to the Valley to raise their growing family on a farm shared with his parents and an older brother's family. He was a member of Rotary, the Ruritan and nearby Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church. Doc had a curious mind engaged in a wide variety of interests such as: starting plants in his greenhouse, taking pictures, carding, spinning and weaving wool, throwing, glazing and firing pottery and collecting many things. People may remember his interest in bottles. He was an avid reader of technical material, novels, biographies, magazines, and news. He enjoyed many years of playing duplicate bridge with Jeanne and played at VMRC as recently as this past October. His gift for trying things without fear of mistakes helped him to learn to use the computer and Internet as well as these other activities. In addition to his wife Jeanne, he is survived by children; Jacquelin Yessian (Mark), Sharon Spangler (Larry Glick), Linda Spangler, Gayle Moore (Lewis), and John Howard Spangler (Lynne), grandchildren: Isaac Glick (Teresa Stanonik) and Timothy Glick (Ellen Posner); Valerie (Spangler) Ward (Jason) and Stephanie (Spangler) Caricofe (Matthew), and Whitney and Alex Moore, as well as two great-grandchildren. He leaves two sisters-in-law, Peggy (Rhodes) Spangler (Sam) and Norma (Wenger) Spangler (Dick) - as well as many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, December 27, 2018, at 2:00 PM at the Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church. The family will receive friends following the service in the church social hall. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes memorial gifts to Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church, 4222 Mt. Clinton Pike, Harrisonburg, VA 22802 or to a charity of your choice. Those wishing may share a memory or an online condolence by visiting www.mcmullenfh.com Arrangements entrusted to the McMullen Funeral Home.