Anna J.R. Spencer
Anna Jean Rogers Spencer was born in Chicago, Ill., June 22, 1924, the daughter of Burris Elijah Rogers Sr. and Eleanora Preckwinkle Rogers. She was the youngest of four children, which included Burris Elijah Rogers Jr., Margaret Rogers and Walter L. Rogers.
She was valedictorian of her class at Dormont High in Pittsburgh, Pa. A beautiful woman and talented dancer and singer, she won second place out of 50 contestants in the Miss Festival of States Pageant in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1941. Her first husband, Charles Hardy, was a Marine killed at Okinawa in World War II. She then married William H. Spencer in Hot Springs, Ark., in 1945 and helped him to build Alliance Rubber Company, which he had founded in 1923. She was the ultimate loving and supportive mother and spouse. She applied common sense principles in her business life which helped Alliance grow to serve customers in 55 countries. In order to help her husband expand their business, she moved her family 17 times in their 41 years of marriage. Her children learned about humanity from her and her generosity formed the unique corporate culture at her company, Alliance Rubber.
She had a keen wit and loved travel, music, comedies, cooking, reading and helping her family to succeed. She valiantly fought a 15-year battle with cancer, and we cannot express deeply enough the Spencer family’s loss of their beloved mother and family matriarch. The Spencer family thanks their hero, Dr. Fred Divers of Genesis Cancer Center of Hot Springs, Ark., for giving them 10 additional years of life with their beautiful mother.
Her survivors include son, Richard Rogers Spencer and daughter-in-law, Nancy Spencer of Hot Springs, Ark.; daughter, Bonnie Spencer Swayze and son-in-law, Bruce Swayze; daughter, Wanda Spencer and son-in-law, Zingaro; and daughter, Donna Spencer. Grandchildren are Lena Michelle Spencer Hitt and her husband, D.J. Hitt; Brandi Nicole Spencer McAlpine and her husband, Chris McAlpine, of Alabaster, Ala.; Beau Swayze, of Los Angeles, and Bill Swayze, of Franklin, Ky.; Spencer Llewellyn, of Midland, Texas, and his wife Ashley; and Houston Llewellyn and his wife, Lauren, of Atlanta. Great-grandchildren are Morgan Anna Hitt, Ethan Llewellyn, Anna Llewellyn, Caroline Kate Llewellyn and Rosser Llewellyn. Her niece, Linda Rogers Fussell, resides in Pompano Beach, Fla.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, at Gilbert Funeral Home in Franklin, Ky., and she will be interred at Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Simpson County, Ky.
Visitation will be held at 11 a.m. until service time Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, at Gilbert Funeral Home in Franklin, Ky.
A celebration of life will occur later this spring in Hot Springs, Ark.