Aug. 26, 1931-Aug. 10, 2011
Arthur “Art” Leonard Spillman, 79, died Aug. 10, 2011 at his home in Hillsboro.
He was born the fifth of 10 children in Colorado Springs, Colo., the son of Leonard and Rowena Spillman. He moved to Shedd in 1944 at the age of 13.
In 1953, he married Lavonne Jackson in Tangent. They were married for 52 years. The couple lived and raised their daughters in Lebanon and Sweet Home communities.
Mr. Spillman worked at different jobs over the years, retiring from Linn Gear of Lebanon after 23 years. He was a member of the bowling team and golfed for many years; was a member of the Elks for 31 years; and a member of the Northwest Steelheaders Association.
In 1977, the Spillmans took a trip to Micronesia to visit their oldest daughter and her family.
During retirement, they took an RV trip to Alaska with their best friends, the Lotts. They also took a summer trip on a houseboat on Shasta lake with their family.
As a 50th wedding anniversary gift from their family, they took a Caribbean cruise.
They loved spending time with their daughters and their families and enjoyed many camping and trips to the beach.
As a hobby Mr. Spillman had many woodworking projects that he created for himself and his family.
After being widowed, Mr. Spillman continued being active with the family, church and the NW Steelheaders Association. He enjoyed fishing, meeting for weekly dominoes with his daughter and friends from church. He liked spending time with his friends at the Mennonite Village, where he lived for a year and a half.
Mr. Spillman volunteered with the Albany School District listening to the children read, as well as reading to them.
He donated to many charitable organizations, including sponsoring a young boy in Mexico.
He was a loving husband and father and much loved and admired by his grandchildren.
He is survived by his sisters, Dorothy Bossen of Vancouver, Wash., and Nadine Lockett of Salem; daughters, Laurena and son-in-law, Ross Tonga, of Salem and Tami and son-in-law, Dan Boer, of Warren; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug 23, at South Albany Community Church. Memorial contributions may be made to American Prostrate Cancer Research Fund.
AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.