Gertrude Harper Main Spencer
1912 ~ 2011
Gertrude Harper Main Spencer, 98, of Mechanicsburg, passed away Friday, February 4, 2011.
Born on November 17, 1912, in Shippensburg, a daughter of the late Harper Patterson Main, Sr. and Edith Horner Main, of Mainsville. Her paternal ancestor, John Mains, was born in Bucks County in 1720 and settled after the Revolution on an 8oo-acre tract of land near Shippensburg deeded to him by the heirs of William Penn. The village of Mainsville was named for the family.
Mrs. Spencer graduated in 1932 from Shippensburg State Teachers College and attended art classes at Penn State where she met her husband, Scott Winthrop Spencer, whom she married in 1938. In 1947 they bought and restored an old stone house, “Three Springs”, built in 1789, and 70 acres of land near Walnut Bottom. For 31 years, Mrs. Spencer was an elementary teacher in Cumberland Valley area schools, retiring from the Big Spring School District in 1974. She had also served as a tax collector for South Newton Township. Since her retirement, she had won numerous awards for her delicately executed watercolors of local landscape scenes. An avid reader and gardener, she had continued to paint into her nineties. She was a member of the Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Scott W. Spencer; a son, Scott M. Spencer; and a granddaughter, Deborah Spencer Martin; two sisters, Katharine Failor of Mechanicsburg and Edith McCann of Shippensburg; and one brother, Harper Patterson Main Jr., of Shippensburg.
Surviving are three children, Sarah S. Beck of Sag Harbor, New York; Judith S. Billow of Millersburg; and Douglas L. Spencer and his wife Barbara of Mechanicsburg; 12 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m., on Saturday, February 12, 2011, at the Fogelsanger-Bricker Funeral home, Inc., with interment in the Spring Hill Cemetery, Shippensburg. Viewing will be one hour prior to the services on Saturday, at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the charity of one’s choice.