Joe L. Spivey

Joe Lawrence Spivey, B.B.A. ’48, passed away April 16 at the age of 100, surrounded by his loving family. Spivey was born Oct. 3, 1925, in Waco, the oldest child of Rose Ella Norris Spivey and Ivers Patterson Spivey.

After graduating from Waco High School, Spivey joined the U.S. Navy in 1943 and served in Pearl Harbor and in the South Pacific as a radarman on Johnston Island during World War II. In 1944, he was selected and returned to the United States for officer training at Princeton, TCU and Tulane. After completing his service in 1945, Spivey married his sweetheart, Joan DeArman, on Oct. 27 and entered Baylor to study accounting. He graduated in 1948 with a Bachelor of Business while working half days with a local accounting firm.

After retirement, Joe and Joan returned to Waco and enjoyed a life with friends, family and activities involving Baylor, First Methodist Church of Waco, traveling and playing golf at Ridgewood Country Club. They established an endowed scholarship fund at Baylor. Spivey was an avid Baylor Bear athletics fan, a charter member of the Endowed Scholarship Society and the Old Main Society, a member of the Baylor Heritage Club and the Baylor Bear Foundation, and a director of the Strecker Museum. Spivey loved to sing and participated for several years in the choir at church. He also was known for his prayers that he recited in the Wesleyan Workers Sunday School Class. He loved dancing at the Big Band Dance Club monthly events and served for a time as the club’s president.