Ark Valley News

June Spencer with a few of her angel figurines. She has been collecting about 30 years, and now she owns more than 500. (Photo by Larry Smith)

June Spencer
By Jessica Lindsey
Last Updated: July 25, 2002

A small sign that reads “Angel wings flutter here” hangs in June Spencer’s dining room in Valley Center.

The sign is more appropriate than anyone might imagine. June has been collecting angel figurines for more than 30 years.

“I bought two after Christmas and liked them so well,” June said. “Last time I counted there were over 500. That was about 10 years ago. I need to count again.”

Nearly every one she’s collected since the first two have been gifts from friends and family.

“I’ve got them in the bedroom, in the bathroom, everywhere,” said June, 82. “I gotta be good with angels everywhere.”

June bought the two angels that started it all in December 1970 during a sale at Johnson’s Garden Center. They’re still in good condition--two pale-colored angels with childlike faces.

The most recent addition to the collection came for June’s birthday last month. Her sister, Daisy “Ting” Bland of Florida, rode a motorcycle to Kansas and gave June a new angel for her collection.

Angel wings aren’t the only significant wings in the Spencer family. Ralph Spencer, June’s late husband, painted model airplanes for Raytheon.

Ralph, better known to his family as “Spence,” had planes on display in several interesting places. Other than their living room, June reported proudly that her husband’s planes had been in museums around the country, in a television show and in the hands of two presidents--though she couldn’t remember which two.

“He made one for Bob Cummings, the actor,” June added. “And he made one for his show--I don’t remember the name of the show.”

June recalled watching Cummings twirl the plane around that sat on his desk in the show.

“We’d sit and watch and hope it wouldn’t break,” she said.

Specific dates may have faded from her memory, but June’s recollections of her family and friends are clear.

June--the third child of George and Daisy Saunders--was born June 19, 1920, in Longford. She was the first girl of the family, and her parents named her after the month when she was born.

June’s father worked as a barber while she was growing up.

“He cut their hair for a quarter,” said June.

She added that many brought eggs, meat and almost anything else if they didn’t have money for a haircut. June’s father was a barber for 70 years.

The family moved often and eventually ended up in Kechi when June was in eighth grade. She went to school in Kechi for a year and then caught a ride to Valley Center for high school during the next four years.

June has been in Valley Center ever since. She started dating her future husband when both were attending Valley Center High School.

“When he first asked me to go out, I thought, ‘No, he’s too quiet,’” June recalled with a laugh.

The two hit it off, and he quickly brought excitement to the family home in Kechi.

“I’d wait for him to drive into Kechi,” said June. “We’d all wait for him to drive up to take me out.”

June graduated in 1938 and married Ralph in August 1939 at her family’s home in Kechi.

“I got a new dress,” June said. “Somebody told me it was bad luck because it was a white and black dress. I still have it somewhere.”

The couple’s daughter, Joan, was born in 1940. When men were drafted for World War II that year, June helped start the Stitch and Chat Club. A group of women gathered every other week at a member’s house to talk, eat and sometimes sew.

“We were supposed to stitch, but we chatted too much,” said June.

The group included 25 women, and June said the club always had a waiting list for those who wanted to join. So why not make it larger?

“It was about as many as we could fit in our houses,” said June.

About nine members are left, and they still meet once a month. June said she always signs up to host the December Christmas party because she loves to decorate her house.

When Ralph came home from the war, the couple applied for and received a GI Loan. They built the first house in Valley Center after World War II.

“The old men in town said, ‘Those kids will never get that house paid for,’” June recalled.

When they built it, the Spencers’ house was at the far north end of Valley Center on North Park. Now it’s almost in the middle of the community.

“I watched Valley Center grow,” said June.

The home originally included two bedrooms and one bathroom. The Spencers had another daughter, Patsy, and then son Jim was born in 1952.

“We had two girls, and when Jim came along we had to add another room,” said June.

Another addition and many years later, June still lives in the house that started as a dream for a young soldier and his wife.

Over the years, Ralph and June maintained their involvement in the community. He served as Valley Center mayor, city council member and school board member. And he was always doing something around the town.

“He worked nonstop,” Jim Spencer said of his father. “He would get to mowing the grass and end up mowing the whole neighborhood.”

The Spencers’ house was the place to be growing up, Jim recalled. They were the first family in town to have a television, and Ralph always had the house equipped with a sand box, swing or playhouse.

June helped start the GRAMS (Grandparents Reading At My School) program 10 years ago, and she recently was recognized with an award for her involvement. She has stayed active at First United Methodist Church, serving as a communion steward for more than 35 years and just keeping an eye on the church, which is across the street from her home.

“They call me the church policeman,” said June.

She had another experience keeping things under control when she served as an aide at Abilene Elementary for two years.

“I worked in the lunchroom,” she said. “I blew my whistle and kids knew what that meant.”

Ralph died in 1996. The couple had been married 57 years.

Now June relies on plenty of family and friends nearby to keep her company.

“We’ve got her surrounded,” said Larry McHughes, June’s son-in-law.

He and Joan live in Valley Center, and so does Jim. Patsy and her husband live in Wichita. Many of June’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren also are Valley Center residents.

“When Spence and I got married, I said I’m not moving,” said June. “I hope I can live here the rest of my life.”