Elizabeth Isabell Dobbs Spence
Elizabeth Isabell Dobbs Spence, 97, of Hampton, Virginia, passed away peacefully on April 7, 2021.
Isabell was born March 29, 1924, in Glen Easton, Marshall County, West Virginia, the sixth child of Jasper and Nancy Dobbs. She left the family dairy farm at age 19 to move to Portsmouth, Virginia, where she worked for the Navy during World War II.
During that time, she met her future husband, Buddy Spence, and they were married in 1946. Soon thereafter, his Air Force career took them to bases in California, Maine, Georgia, Virginia, and Germany, where their children were born. They enjoyed the opportunity of traveling across Europe before retiring to Hampton in 1964. Isabell had been a member of Langley Baptist Church since 1957. Her church was her life and was a natural place for her to live out her purpose: to serve others. She loved nothing better than looking after and taking care of her friends and neighbors. She was actively involved in missions programs, serving in leadership positions in organizations including GAs and the WMU, and as a Sunday School teacher. She was a valued substitute teacher in the Hampton Public School System and had previously served as a Girl Scout leader.
Never one to sit when something could be done, Isabell loved cooking, gardening, her “programs” and music. She played the piano and, as a young girl, sang in a quartet in her church. She will be remembered as an elegant lady who, even in her 90s, never looked her age. She was a graceful, gracious hostess who’d been blessed with the spiritual gift of hospitality.
As grandchildren began to arrive, they became the light of her life; she enjoyed and adored them, and they loved their grandmother.
Isabell is survived by her daughter, Regina Spence Hurst and husband Doug, son, Kenneth Spence and wife Dalane; four grandchildren, Rebekah Spence Fedrowitz and husband Walter, Kara Spence Baker and husband Brandon, Andrew Hurst and Laura Hurst; one great-grandchild, Elek Fedrowitz; a sister-in-law, Doris Spence; many nieces and nephews; and countless friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, James “Buddy” Spence, USAF Ret.; her parents; her siblings, Marvel Brake, Oma Postlewaite, Norman Dobbs, Victor Dobbs, Hubert Carmichael, Caroline Hicks and young brother Emron Dobbs; step-granddaughter Jennifer Barnes; and companion of 18 years, Graydon Walker Sr.
A funeral service will be held at 4 p.m. April 15, 2021, at Langley Baptist Church, 116 Little Back River Road, Hampton. Family will receive friends following the service. A private interment will take place at Parklawn Memorial Park in Hampton. Memorials in Isabell’s name may be made to Langley Baptist Church.
Heartfelt thanks to the staff of Spring Arbor Cottage of Richmond, for the loving care and kindness they showed to Isabell during the last six months of her life.
Arrangements by R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home, Hampton. www.rhaydensmith.com.