Wilbur D. Spidel, 79, of 5315 Meeker Road, Greenville, Ohio, died at 10 a.m. Friday [March 2, 1979] at the Brethren Home Medical Center [in Greenville] where he had been a patient since Feb. 22.
oMr. Spidel was born in Versailles [actually in Adams Township], son of the late Jacob C and Phoebe (Brewer) Spidel. [Note: Birth certificate says Adams Township, Darke County, Ohio]
A member of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, he was a senior partner in the Spidel, Staley, Hole and Hanes law firm.
Mr. Spidel graduated from Greenville High School in 1918 and was a graduate of the University of Michigan.
A founding father of the Darke County YMCA, he was past president of the Lutheran Men's League. Other memberships include: Royal Arch Masons, Antioch Temple Shrine in Dayton, Darke County Shrine Club, Scottish Rite Valley of Dayton (32nd degree, White Shrine, Darke County Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association and the Greenville Township Zoning Committee.
He was past patron of the Order of the Eastern Star, past state bar examiner, former Greenville City Board of Education member and past board president, past president of the Darke County Bar Association, former member and past president of the Greenville Lions Club, member and past exalted ruler of the Greenville Elks Lodge, and past commander of the Erik Cottrell Post 140, American Legion.
SURVIVING are his wife, Sarah (Dohme) Spidel, whom he married May 28, 1932; two daughters, Mrs Robert (Gretchen K) Pequignot of Springfield and Mrs Nils (Collette) Eikenberry of Greenville; four sons: George J of West Union, John W of Greenville, David L of Copperas, Texas, and Wilbur D, II, of Greenville; 13 grandchildren; and a sister Mrs Mildred Wright of Greenville.
A brother Robert is deceased.
SERVICES will be conducted 11 a.m. monday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, with Dr. Larry Kettlehake officiating.
Interment will follow at Greenville Cemetery.
The famile will receive friends from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Zechar Funeral Home, East Third Street, and one hour prior to services at the church on Monday. Masonic Lodge services will be held at 6:45 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
It is the wishes of the family that living memorials be made to St. Paul's Lutheran Church or to the Darke County YMCA building fund in Mr. Spidel's memory.
~~~
The members of the Darke County Bar Association are assembled today to pay respect to the memory of the oldest and one of the illustrious members of their number.
Wilbur D. Spidel, whose name for more than two and one-half score of years graced the roster of our membership, whose fidelity to our highest ideals, whose consecration to the service of humanity, brought to our profession, which he so brilliantly adorned, is no more.
The son of Jacob and Phoebe Spidel was born in Adams Township, Darke County, Ohio, on February 13, 1900. His childhood and youth were lived amid an environment of toil and labor, which undoubtedly contributed much toward shaping his career of one of boundless energy and ceaseless labor on behalf of his clients.
Wilbur D. Spidel was married on the 28th day of May 1932, to Sarah Elizabeth Dohme, and of this union six children have been born, whose names are Gretchen Pequignot, George, John, David, Collette Eikenberry and Wilbur D., II (Sam).
Wilbur had a love for the soil, and this love remained a passion with him to the day of his death.
Aside from his agricultural pursuits, Wilbur D. Spidel at all times manifested a deep interest in the cause of education and was president of the Greenville City Board of Education for a period of time.
He entered the University of Michigan, and after earning his AB Degree in 1925, entered the law school of the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the Bar of Ohio in July of 1927.
He commenced his practice in the City of Dayton, Ohio, with Jack Egan, but after approximately one year, moved to Greenville where he was engaged in the practice for more than fifty years. Upon coming to Greenville he was associated with the firm of Mannix and Billingsley. After disassociating himself with that firm, he practiced alone except for a period in the 1940's when he was associated with Edward Williams.
He continued to practice alone until January 1, 1950, when he organized the law firm consisting of himself, Hugh A. Staley, and Richard E. Hole, which firm was known as Spidel, Staley & Hole, and which was expanded to Spidel, Staley, Hole & Hanes. He was the head of that successful venture until the day of his death.
He never offered himself as a candidate for an elective office except he ran for the office of Probate Judge unsuccessfully.
In 1957 the Supreme Court of Ohio honored him by making him one of the State Bar Examiners and he continued to serve in that capacity until 1962.
Wilbur D. Spidel was a great trial lawyer. He was at his best when his opposition required it. His greatest love of the profession was the trial of cases, particularly jury cases, and in this he was eminently successful. This success was due in a large measure to his careful and untiring preparation in the trial of law suits. He believed that nothing should be left to inspiration -- it should all be preparation. Although in the trial of a law suit he asked no quarter or gave none, outside of the courtroom he was patient, courteous and kind, considered the rights of others and never willfully gave offense.
He was a kind and loving husband, an indulgent parent, a useful member of society, an exemplary citizen, a faithful and unselfish friend, a faithful member to his church, an honest man, and his life was, indeed, a complete embodiment of the spirit of the Golden Rule.
Wilbur was always on the side of the unfortunate and distressed, and to this cause he was willing to spend his time and much needed energy, even though it meant no remuneration of any kind. His practice was built upon the theory of which his life was an exemplification, that it was the duty of a lawyer to serve humanity, even if it meant doing it without being compensated.
His presence will be forever absent from our midst. His words of caution or encouragement will be missed by his partners, his clients, the bar and his family. The great heart that beat for so many years in unison and sympathy for the unfortunate and distressed has been stilled by the icy finger of death; but the soul, the spirit of this truly unselfish man has been released from its bondage of a tenement of clay, and begun its celestial voyage upon the vast shoreless sea which touches the lives of us all and upon whose rippling waves is not reflected the image of any returning soldier.
During his adult life he was a faithful and loyal member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Greenville, Ohio.
And now profound lawyer, wise counselor, faithful friend, a last and long farewell.
BE IT RESOLVED that a copy of this Memoriam be spread upon the minutes of the Common Pleas Court of Darke County, Ohio to perpetuate the memory of our member, and that a copy be given to the family and the news media.
Hugh Staley
Richard E. Hole
John C. Brumbaugh
Roger L. Hurley
Jeffrey L. Amick
oMr. Spidel was born in Versailles [actually in Adams Township], son of the late Jacob C and Phoebe (Brewer) Spidel. [Note: Birth certificate says Adams Township, Darke County, Ohio]
A member of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, he was a senior partner in the Spidel, Staley, Hole and Hanes law firm.
Mr. Spidel graduated from Greenville High School in 1918 and was a graduate of the University of Michigan.
A founding father of the Darke County YMCA, he was past president of the Lutheran Men's League. Other memberships include: Royal Arch Masons, Antioch Temple Shrine in Dayton, Darke County Shrine Club, Scottish Rite Valley of Dayton (32nd degree, White Shrine, Darke County Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association and the Greenville Township Zoning Committee.
He was past patron of the Order of the Eastern Star, past state bar examiner, former Greenville City Board of Education member and past board president, past president of the Darke County Bar Association, former member and past president of the Greenville Lions Club, member and past exalted ruler of the Greenville Elks Lodge, and past commander of the Erik Cottrell Post 140, American Legion.
SURVIVING are his wife, Sarah (Dohme) Spidel, whom he married May 28, 1932; two daughters, Mrs Robert (Gretchen K) Pequignot of Springfield and Mrs Nils (Collette) Eikenberry of Greenville; four sons: George J of West Union, John W of Greenville, David L of Copperas, Texas, and Wilbur D, II, of Greenville; 13 grandchildren; and a sister Mrs Mildred Wright of Greenville.
A brother Robert is deceased.
SERVICES will be conducted 11 a.m. monday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, with Dr. Larry Kettlehake officiating.
Interment will follow at Greenville Cemetery.
The famile will receive friends from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Zechar Funeral Home, East Third Street, and one hour prior to services at the church on Monday. Masonic Lodge services will be held at 6:45 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
It is the wishes of the family that living memorials be made to St. Paul's Lutheran Church or to the Darke County YMCA building fund in Mr. Spidel's memory.
~~~
The members of the Darke County Bar Association are assembled today to pay respect to the memory of the oldest and one of the illustrious members of their number.
Wilbur D. Spidel, whose name for more than two and one-half score of years graced the roster of our membership, whose fidelity to our highest ideals, whose consecration to the service of humanity, brought to our profession, which he so brilliantly adorned, is no more.
The son of Jacob and Phoebe Spidel was born in Adams Township, Darke County, Ohio, on February 13, 1900. His childhood and youth were lived amid an environment of toil and labor, which undoubtedly contributed much toward shaping his career of one of boundless energy and ceaseless labor on behalf of his clients.
Wilbur D. Spidel was married on the 28th day of May 1932, to Sarah Elizabeth Dohme, and of this union six children have been born, whose names are Gretchen Pequignot, George, John, David, Collette Eikenberry and Wilbur D., II (Sam).
Wilbur had a love for the soil, and this love remained a passion with him to the day of his death.
Aside from his agricultural pursuits, Wilbur D. Spidel at all times manifested a deep interest in the cause of education and was president of the Greenville City Board of Education for a period of time.
He entered the University of Michigan, and after earning his AB Degree in 1925, entered the law school of the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the Bar of Ohio in July of 1927.
He commenced his practice in the City of Dayton, Ohio, with Jack Egan, but after approximately one year, moved to Greenville where he was engaged in the practice for more than fifty years. Upon coming to Greenville he was associated with the firm of Mannix and Billingsley. After disassociating himself with that firm, he practiced alone except for a period in the 1940's when he was associated with Edward Williams.
He continued to practice alone until January 1, 1950, when he organized the law firm consisting of himself, Hugh A. Staley, and Richard E. Hole, which firm was known as Spidel, Staley & Hole, and which was expanded to Spidel, Staley, Hole & Hanes. He was the head of that successful venture until the day of his death.
He never offered himself as a candidate for an elective office except he ran for the office of Probate Judge unsuccessfully.
In 1957 the Supreme Court of Ohio honored him by making him one of the State Bar Examiners and he continued to serve in that capacity until 1962.
Wilbur D. Spidel was a great trial lawyer. He was at his best when his opposition required it. His greatest love of the profession was the trial of cases, particularly jury cases, and in this he was eminently successful. This success was due in a large measure to his careful and untiring preparation in the trial of law suits. He believed that nothing should be left to inspiration -- it should all be preparation. Although in the trial of a law suit he asked no quarter or gave none, outside of the courtroom he was patient, courteous and kind, considered the rights of others and never willfully gave offense.
He was a kind and loving husband, an indulgent parent, a useful member of society, an exemplary citizen, a faithful and unselfish friend, a faithful member to his church, an honest man, and his life was, indeed, a complete embodiment of the spirit of the Golden Rule.
Wilbur was always on the side of the unfortunate and distressed, and to this cause he was willing to spend his time and much needed energy, even though it meant no remuneration of any kind. His practice was built upon the theory of which his life was an exemplification, that it was the duty of a lawyer to serve humanity, even if it meant doing it without being compensated.
His presence will be forever absent from our midst. His words of caution or encouragement will be missed by his partners, his clients, the bar and his family. The great heart that beat for so many years in unison and sympathy for the unfortunate and distressed has been stilled by the icy finger of death; but the soul, the spirit of this truly unselfish man has been released from its bondage of a tenement of clay, and begun its celestial voyage upon the vast shoreless sea which touches the lives of us all and upon whose rippling waves is not reflected the image of any returning soldier.
During his adult life he was a faithful and loyal member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Greenville, Ohio.
And now profound lawyer, wise counselor, faithful friend, a last and long farewell.
BE IT RESOLVED that a copy of this Memoriam be spread upon the minutes of the Common Pleas Court of Darke County, Ohio to perpetuate the memory of our member, and that a copy be given to the family and the news media.
Hugh Staley
Richard E. Hole
John C. Brumbaugh
Roger L. Hurley
Jeffrey L. Amick
Wilbur D. Spidel, 79, of 5315 Meeker Road, Greenville, Ohio, died at 10 a.m. Friday [March 2, 1979] at the Brethren Home Medical Center [in Greenville] where he had been a patient since Feb. 22.
oMr. Spidel was born in Versailles [actually in Adams Township], son of the late Jacob C and Phoebe (Brewer) Spidel. [Note: Birth certificate says Adams Township, Darke County, Ohio]
A member of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, he was a senior partner in the Spidel, Staley, Hole and Hanes law firm.
Mr. Spidel graduated from Greenville High School in 1918 and was a graduate of the University of Michigan.
A founding father of the Darke County YMCA, he was past president of the Lutheran Men's League. Other memberships include: Royal Arch Masons, Antioch Temple Shrine in Dayton, Darke County Shrine Club, Scottish Rite Valley of Dayton (32nd degree, White Shrine, Darke County Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association and the Greenville Township Zoning Committee.
He was past patron of the Order of the Eastern Star, past state bar examiner, former Greenville City Board of Education member and past board president, past president of the Darke County Bar Association, former member and past president of the Greenville Lions Club, member and past exalted ruler of the Greenville Elks Lodge, and past commander of the Erik Cottrell Post 140, American Legion.
SURVIVING are his wife, Sarah (Dohme) Spidel, whom he married May 28, 1932; two daughters, Mrs Robert (Gretchen K) Pequignot of Springfield and Mrs Nils (Collette) Eikenberry of Greenville; four sons: George J of West Union, John W of Greenville, David L of Copperas, Texas, and Wilbur D, II, of Greenville; 13 grandchildren; and a sister Mrs Mildred Wright of Greenville.
A brother Robert is deceased.
SERVICES will be conducted 11 a.m. monday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, with Dr. Larry Kettlehake officiating.
Interment will follow at Greenville Cemetery.
The famile will receive friends from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Zechar Funeral Home, East Third Street, and one hour prior to services at the church on Monday. Masonic Lodge services will be held at 6:45 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
It is the wishes of the family that living memorials be made to St. Paul's Lutheran Church or to the Darke County YMCA building fund in Mr. Spidel's memory.
~~~
The members of the Darke County Bar Association are assembled today to pay respect to the memory of the oldest and one of the illustrious members of their number.
Wilbur D. Spidel, whose name for more than two and one-half score of years graced the roster of our membership, whose fidelity to our highest ideals, whose consecration to the service of humanity, brought to our profession, which he so brilliantly adorned, is no more.
The son of Jacob and Phoebe Spidel was born in Adams Township, Darke County, Ohio, on February 13, 1900. His childhood and youth were lived amid an environment of toil and labor, which undoubtedly contributed much toward shaping his career of one of boundless energy and ceaseless labor on behalf of his clients.
Wilbur D. Spidel was married on the 28th day of May 1932, to Sarah Elizabeth Dohme, and of this union six children have been born, whose names are Gretchen Pequignot, George, John, David, Collette Eikenberry and Wilbur D., II (Sam).
Wilbur had a love for the soil, and this love remained a passion with him to the day of his death.
Aside from his agricultural pursuits, Wilbur D. Spidel at all times manifested a deep interest in the cause of education and was president of the Greenville City Board of Education for a period of time.
He entered the University of Michigan, and after earning his AB Degree in 1925, entered the law school of the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the Bar of Ohio in July of 1927.
He commenced his practice in the City of Dayton, Ohio, with Jack Egan, but after approximately one year, moved to Greenville where he was engaged in the practice for more than fifty years. Upon coming to Greenville he was associated with the firm of Mannix and Billingsley. After disassociating himself with that firm, he practiced alone except for a period in the 1940's when he was associated with Edward Williams.
He continued to practice alone until January 1, 1950, when he organized the law firm consisting of himself, Hugh A. Staley, and Richard E. Hole, which firm was known as Spidel, Staley & Hole, and which was expanded to Spidel, Staley, Hole & Hanes. He was the head of that successful venture until the day of his death.
He never offered himself as a candidate for an elective office except he ran for the office of Probate Judge unsuccessfully.
In 1957 the Supreme Court of Ohio honored him by making him one of the State Bar Examiners and he continued to serve in that capacity until 1962.
Wilbur D. Spidel was a great trial lawyer. He was at his best when his opposition required it. His greatest love of the profession was the trial of cases, particularly jury cases, and in this he was eminently successful. This success was due in a large measure to his careful and untiring preparation in the trial of law suits. He believed that nothing should be left to inspiration -- it should all be preparation. Although in the trial of a law suit he asked no quarter or gave none, outside of the courtroom he was patient, courteous and kind, considered the rights of others and never willfully gave offense.
He was a kind and loving husband, an indulgent parent, a useful member of society, an exemplary citizen, a faithful and unselfish friend, a faithful member to his church, an honest man, and his life was, indeed, a complete embodiment of the spirit of the Golden Rule.
Wilbur was always on the side of the unfortunate and distressed, and to this cause he was willing to spend his time and much needed energy, even though it meant no remuneration of any kind. His practice was built upon the theory of which his life was an exemplification, that it was the duty of a lawyer to serve humanity, even if it meant doing it without being compensated.
His presence will be forever absent from our midst. His words of caution or encouragement will be missed by his partners, his clients, the bar and his family. The great heart that beat for so many years in unison and sympathy for the unfortunate and distressed has been stilled by the icy finger of death; but the soul, the spirit of this truly unselfish man has been released from its bondage of a tenement of clay, and begun its celestial voyage upon the vast shoreless sea which touches the lives of us all and upon whose rippling waves is not reflected the image of any returning soldier.
During his adult life he was a faithful and loyal member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Greenville, Ohio.
And now profound lawyer, wise counselor, faithful friend, a last and long farewell.
BE IT RESOLVED that a copy of this Memoriam be spread upon the minutes of the Common Pleas Court of Darke County, Ohio to perpetuate the memory of our member, and that a copy be given to the family and the news media.
Hugh Staley
Richard E. Hole
John C. Brumbaugh
Roger L. Hurley
Jeffrey L. Amick
oMr. Spidel was born in Versailles [actually in Adams Township], son of the late Jacob C and Phoebe (Brewer) Spidel. [Note: Birth certificate says Adams Township, Darke County, Ohio]
A member of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, he was a senior partner in the Spidel, Staley, Hole and Hanes law firm.
Mr. Spidel graduated from Greenville High School in 1918 and was a graduate of the University of Michigan.
A founding father of the Darke County YMCA, he was past president of the Lutheran Men's League. Other memberships include: Royal Arch Masons, Antioch Temple Shrine in Dayton, Darke County Shrine Club, Scottish Rite Valley of Dayton (32nd degree, White Shrine, Darke County Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association and the Greenville Township Zoning Committee.
He was past patron of the Order of the Eastern Star, past state bar examiner, former Greenville City Board of Education member and past board president, past president of the Darke County Bar Association, former member and past president of the Greenville Lions Club, member and past exalted ruler of the Greenville Elks Lodge, and past commander of the Erik Cottrell Post 140, American Legion.
SURVIVING are his wife, Sarah (Dohme) Spidel, whom he married May 28, 1932; two daughters, Mrs Robert (Gretchen K) Pequignot of Springfield and Mrs Nils (Collette) Eikenberry of Greenville; four sons: George J of West Union, John W of Greenville, David L of Copperas, Texas, and Wilbur D, II, of Greenville; 13 grandchildren; and a sister Mrs Mildred Wright of Greenville.
A brother Robert is deceased.
SERVICES will be conducted 11 a.m. monday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, with Dr. Larry Kettlehake officiating.
Interment will follow at Greenville Cemetery.
The famile will receive friends from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Zechar Funeral Home, East Third Street, and one hour prior to services at the church on Monday. Masonic Lodge services will be held at 6:45 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
It is the wishes of the family that living memorials be made to St. Paul's Lutheran Church or to the Darke County YMCA building fund in Mr. Spidel's memory.
~~~
The members of the Darke County Bar Association are assembled today to pay respect to the memory of the oldest and one of the illustrious members of their number.
Wilbur D. Spidel, whose name for more than two and one-half score of years graced the roster of our membership, whose fidelity to our highest ideals, whose consecration to the service of humanity, brought to our profession, which he so brilliantly adorned, is no more.
The son of Jacob and Phoebe Spidel was born in Adams Township, Darke County, Ohio, on February 13, 1900. His childhood and youth were lived amid an environment of toil and labor, which undoubtedly contributed much toward shaping his career of one of boundless energy and ceaseless labor on behalf of his clients.
Wilbur D. Spidel was married on the 28th day of May 1932, to Sarah Elizabeth Dohme, and of this union six children have been born, whose names are Gretchen Pequignot, George, John, David, Collette Eikenberry and Wilbur D., II (Sam).
Wilbur had a love for the soil, and this love remained a passion with him to the day of his death.
Aside from his agricultural pursuits, Wilbur D. Spidel at all times manifested a deep interest in the cause of education and was president of the Greenville City Board of Education for a period of time.
He entered the University of Michigan, and after earning his AB Degree in 1925, entered the law school of the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the Bar of Ohio in July of 1927.
He commenced his practice in the City of Dayton, Ohio, with Jack Egan, but after approximately one year, moved to Greenville where he was engaged in the practice for more than fifty years. Upon coming to Greenville he was associated with the firm of Mannix and Billingsley. After disassociating himself with that firm, he practiced alone except for a period in the 1940's when he was associated with Edward Williams.
He continued to practice alone until January 1, 1950, when he organized the law firm consisting of himself, Hugh A. Staley, and Richard E. Hole, which firm was known as Spidel, Staley & Hole, and which was expanded to Spidel, Staley, Hole & Hanes. He was the head of that successful venture until the day of his death.
He never offered himself as a candidate for an elective office except he ran for the office of Probate Judge unsuccessfully.
In 1957 the Supreme Court of Ohio honored him by making him one of the State Bar Examiners and he continued to serve in that capacity until 1962.
Wilbur D. Spidel was a great trial lawyer. He was at his best when his opposition required it. His greatest love of the profession was the trial of cases, particularly jury cases, and in this he was eminently successful. This success was due in a large measure to his careful and untiring preparation in the trial of law suits. He believed that nothing should be left to inspiration -- it should all be preparation. Although in the trial of a law suit he asked no quarter or gave none, outside of the courtroom he was patient, courteous and kind, considered the rights of others and never willfully gave offense.
He was a kind and loving husband, an indulgent parent, a useful member of society, an exemplary citizen, a faithful and unselfish friend, a faithful member to his church, an honest man, and his life was, indeed, a complete embodiment of the spirit of the Golden Rule.
Wilbur was always on the side of the unfortunate and distressed, and to this cause he was willing to spend his time and much needed energy, even though it meant no remuneration of any kind. His practice was built upon the theory of which his life was an exemplification, that it was the duty of a lawyer to serve humanity, even if it meant doing it without being compensated.
His presence will be forever absent from our midst. His words of caution or encouragement will be missed by his partners, his clients, the bar and his family. The great heart that beat for so many years in unison and sympathy for the unfortunate and distressed has been stilled by the icy finger of death; but the soul, the spirit of this truly unselfish man has been released from its bondage of a tenement of clay, and begun its celestial voyage upon the vast shoreless sea which touches the lives of us all and upon whose rippling waves is not reflected the image of any returning soldier.
During his adult life he was a faithful and loyal member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Greenville, Ohio.
And now profound lawyer, wise counselor, faithful friend, a last and long farewell.
BE IT RESOLVED that a copy of this Memoriam be spread upon the minutes of the Common Pleas Court of Darke County, Ohio to perpetuate the memory of our member, and that a copy be given to the family and the news media.
Hugh Staley
Richard E. Hole
John C. Brumbaugh
Roger L. Hurley
Jeffrey L. Amick
Family Members
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