Lud Lorenzo ‘Ren’ Spivey
Published 12:57 am Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Lud Lorenzo “Ren” Spivey of Windsor passed away on June 22, 2020.
He was 73 years old, having been born on February 3, 1947. He was a native of Isle of Wight County and loved it as his home. He was the son of the late S. Aubrey Spivey and the late Hazel Spivey Lankford.
He was a former Sunday School Director and Deacon of Colosse Baptist Church and a former member and Deacon of Windsor Baptist Church. He was licensed to preach by Colosse Baptist Church at an early age.
He was a graduate of the 1965 Class of Windsor High School, Ferrum Junior College (A.A. 1967); The College of William and Mary (B.A. 1969); Golden Gate University (M.P.A. 1978) and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (M. Div. 1983). He was a member of Mu Zeta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Scholastic Honorary Society.
He grew up on a farm near Carrsville and knew what chopping peanuts was all about. He was proud to have been taught by his father early in life the value of a dollar bill. Nearly everyone who ever knew him could instantly tell who he was if he called them on the telephone by the sound of his “down south” original voice. He could be spotted in an old Ford on the road often and was a blue ribbon collard grower.
He measured land with the County A. S. C. Office while in high school; painted school buildings in Isle of Wight to help pay college expenses; worked in the College Bookstore at Ferrum and drove a bus for the College of William and Mary while a student there. He worked for the Town of Wake Forest Street Department while in seminary painting the jail, houses and sweeping leaves in the Wake Forest Cemetery.
He studied World Religions at the Overseas Ministry Study Center in Ventnor, New Jersey and later in Washington, D. C. and he traveled in Israel in 1985. He was a Past Master of Purdie Masonic Lodge #170 in Windsor; Past District Deputy Grand Master of the 31st Masonic District, A. F. & A. M.; Past High Priest of Mt. Nebo Royal Arch Chapter #20 in Suffolk and Past District Deputy Grand High Priest of the 21st Capitular District in 1981.
He was a Life Sponsor of the Knights Templar Eye Foundation and received the Orders of the Commandery in Portsmouth Commandery #5. He received the Scottish Rite Degrees in the Portsmouth Consistory and those of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in Khedive Temple in Norfolk. He belonged to the Missouri Lodge of Research; the Fayetteville Council of Royal and Select Masters of North Carolina; was a former member of the Charles M. Flintoff Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees and was a member of the Virginia Council of Anointed High Priests. He was a former member of the Quator Lodge of Research in England. He was a member of the Council of Knight Masons and the York Rite College.
He had served as a Councilman on the Windsor Town Council for several years and on the Town of Windsor Planning Commission, as well as the Isle of Wight County Planning Commission; the Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors; The County Committee on Economic Development; The Western Tidewater Jail Authority and the Isle of Wight Public Service Authority. He was a member of the Isle of Wight County Historical Society’s Grave Survey Task Force and the Isle of Wight County Crime Line Board of Directors. He was a Charter Member of the Franklin-Southampton Lodge #56 Fraternal Order of Police and a Past President of the Walters Ruritan Club.
He was employed from 1971 to 1973 as a Social Worker and Juvenile Probation Officer with the Isle of Wight County Department of Social Services. From 1973 to 1978, he worked for the Fifth District Court Service Unit as a Supervisor. From 1988 until 2008, he was an Adult Probation and Parole Officer with the Sixth Judicial District of Virginia. He retired at the end of 2008 with 38 years of State service.
Ren considered his hobbies to be gardening, genealogical studies of his family and others, reading, keeping up with local, state and national politics as a “Blue Dog.” After shaking Bill Clinton’s hand twice one day in Chesapeake, he didn’t wash it for two weeks. He loved preserving a 1950 and 1955 Ford, playing Rook with friends and “people watching.” When someone asked him about Warren Buffet one day, he said the only thing they had in common was he never owned any phone but a flip phone and never threw away anything he had until he owned it for at least 25 years.
He firmly believed that the best education could be found by talking to strangers and not being afraid to converse with others. He was taught as a child not to talk when elders were speaking and to stand up when the elderly entered the room.
Billy Graham was his favorite preacher, but no one could ever sing like his Dad, S. Aubrey Spivey. Ren enjoyed knowing the constant blessings of God both in the hills of life and in the valleys of Depression, through which he walked more than once. He believed that Jesus is the closest friend anyone can have and that God will bring you through every difficulty.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Sandra Kaye Baines Spivey and two children, Lauren Alexis Spivey Levwood and husband (William) of Tallahassee, Florida, and Jonathan Baines Spivey of Brooklyn, New York. He also leaves his precious granddaughter, Haya Sophia Levwood. He is also survived by a brother, Shelton Aubrey Spivey, Jr., and wife, Gail. Both his parents predeceased him. He is also survived by a niece, Brandy Gail Robbins and husband, Brian; a nephew, Rev. Clint Christian Spivey and wife, Jenny, as well as a great-nieces, Gwendolyn Carter Spivey, Eleanor Leona Spivey, and William Rowland Spivey. Other survivors include several cousins.
A graveside service was conducted at the Colosse Baptist Church Cemetery on Friday, June 26th at 11 o’clock a.m. Memorial donations may be made to any organization which attempts to re-unite missing children with their families or to the Colosse Baptist Church Cemetery Fund.
Parr Funeral Home & Crematory in Suffolk handled arrangements. A memorial celebration of his life will be held at a future date. Condolences may be registered online at www.parrfuneralhome.com.