Elizabeth Williams Spencer, a Hopkinsville native and educator who was recognized for work with human rights organizations, the Baptist church and the League of Woman Voters, died in March.
The Kentucky League of Women Voters noted her death in an email to members today.
Spencer, 93, was the daughter of the late Carl and Lannie Belle Robertson Williams. She died March 18, in Midlothian, Virginia, and was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Hopkinsville.
She was a graduate of Hopkinsville High School and earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Murray State and a master’s degree from the University of Maryland.
In addition to her teaching career, Spencer served on school boards in Kansas and Maryland, and she was active locally as a member of the long-range planning committee for Christian County Public Schools.
She chaired the Hopkinsville Human Relations Commission (now the Human Rights Commission) and received the organization’s Hal and Bettye Thurmond Award in 1995.
She was a former vice president of the Hopkinsville-Christian County League of Women Voters and served as co-president of the state league from 1991-93.
A memorial for her on Find-A-Grave states:
“Mrs. Spencer’s personal interests centered on her family and her church. Active in Baptist churches wherever she lived, she served as a Sunday school teacher, training director, choir member, church organist, and ordained deacon. On the national level, she was a delegate to the American Baptist Convention and served on the American Baptist Board of Education and Publication. At her death, she was a member of the First Baptist Church of Hopkinsville, Ky., and had served as church archivist.”
Spencer’s husband, Dr. Lewis Spencer, died in 2005. She is survived by five children and their spouses, 13 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
