Obituary of Henry Spencer Faircloth

Henry Spencer Faircloth, Lt Colonel USAF Retired, a longtime resident and SunTrust Banker at Sun City Center passed away on March 27, 2019.

Spencer was born in Albany, Georgia, on July 21, 1929, the son of Una Lee Hall Faircloth and William Young Faircloth, who preceded him.  His Father served as a pharmacist in World War I, and afterwards owned and operated a drug store in Leesburg, Georgia. 

Spencer’s wife of 52 years, Mary S. Faircloth, preceded him in death.  His brother, Colonel William Y. Faircloth, Jr., who was a career officer in the Florida National Guard preceded him in death.  His sister, Mary Elizabeth Faircloth, who as an Army Operating Room Nurse Supervisor served in Japan and Korea during the Korean War, and then as a consultant on the National Staff of the American Red Cross preceded him in death.  He is survived by nieces and nephews, Elizabeth Lee Faircloth Hunt(Mark), J. Elaine Faircloth Neese (Michael), Edward William Faircloth(Jennifer), and Ronald Spencer Faircloth(Ruth).

After graduating from Leesburg High School, he attended Oxford College of Emory University at Oxford, Georgia for two years and then attended Emory University in Atlanta where he graduated with a BA in 1951.  He immediately enlisted in the US Air Force and subsequently graduated from Officer Candidate School as a Second Lieutenant.  He graduated from a number of military schools, including the Armed Forces Staff College.  He received his Masters Degree from the University of Tennessee.  During his Air Force career of 24 years, he had a number of special assignments.  He served on the Graduate School faculty of the University of Pittsburgh, on the White House Staff as the Director of a Presidential Committee during President Nixon’s administration, and on the staff of the European Office of Aerospace Research at the American Embassy in Brussels, Belgium.  During the Vietnam war, he served at Air Force Headquarters as the Chief of the Casualty Assistance Branch where he served as a letter writer for President’s Johnson and later President Nixon. 

In 1953 Spencer met Mary at England Air Force Base in Alexandria, LA, and they were married in Verdun, France on May 21, 1955.  Mary and Spencer remained a devoted couple.  When you saw one of them, the other was not too far away.  Spencer retired from the Air Force May 1, 1974 and remained working until his death.  He was a Life Loyal Sigma Chi member and was awarded his 50 year pin as a Master Mason.  He served as Vice President of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in New York, as a Vice President of Century Twenty-One Corp Headquarters in Irvine, California, as President of Lakeview Condominium Conversion Company in Louisville, Kentucky, as President of the National Community Housing Corporation, Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, EVP of the Retirement Corporation of America, Bradenton, Florida, Vice President of Mortgage Finance for Oppenheimer & Company, New York, NY, Vice President and General Manager of Freedom Group Development at Sun City Center, Florida.  After over 18 years as First Vice President and Trust officer of SunTrust Bank in Sun City Center, Florida, Spencer retired for the third time, but afterwards spent many years as a Director and Trustee of the Military Officer’s Benevolent Corporation (MOBC), as a member of the Sun City Center SunTrust Bank Advisory Board, as a Member of the Board of Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful, Inc. (KHCB), and a member of the Board of the South Bay Hospital.  In 2015, Spencer published his Memoir, “From Watermelon Inspector to the White House”.

A memorial service will be held April 2, 2019, at 1:00 p.m., at Trinity Baptist Church, Sun City Center, Florida.  Interment will be in the Fort Sam Houston Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.  Donations to Life-Path Hospice are suggested rather than flowers.