Samuel Chapman Spalding, Sr. was born December 5th, 1930 the second son to Elizabeth Claire Thompson Spalding and Francis Xavier Spalding. In addition to his older brother, he had two older sisters and later received 3 younger sisters and 2 younger brothers before his mother passed away due to complications from childbirth. He regularly spoke of memories of his mother even though he was a young boy when she died. But it was his father and his mother’s Thompson family who were major influences on him and instilled in him a rock solid work ethic and devotion to family. On July 26th, 1952, he married his one true love, Alice Teresa Abell and being devout Catholics, they immediately began procreating and the children started piling up just one year later (tapping out at 10). They enjoyed 63 years of marriage and weathered the heartache of burying 3 of their children while making a living and keeping it all together for the other children. Aside from his family he was devoted to the farm he grew up on and working the land. Even in later years long after his farming days were over, he was always concerned about how the crops […]
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