Richard J. “Dick” Spangler, 85, of Cornwall, formerly of Strasburg, Lancaster County died Sunday, May 23, 2021, at Cornwall Manor. He was the husband of Dawn M. Eberly Spangler with whom he celebrated 60 years of marriage.
A native of Campbelltown, he was born on November 22, 1935, the son of the late Abner C. and Beulah M. Jones Spangler. He worked for 24 years as vice president and trust officer for Fulton Financial Corporation. During his tenure, he led personal trusts and estates, employee benefits, and endowment and foundation areas of the trust department. He was a trusted advisor and steward to many business leaders across the central Pennsylvania region.
Dick started his career as a CPA and partner with Simon Lever and Company and continued to manage his own tax practice for colleagues, neighbors, friends, and family for over 50 years. His expertise spanned from emerging entrepreneurs to manufacturing concerns, and guidance regarding the unique and complex risks faced by family farms. Dick was also an active owner in many entrepreneurial endeavors, including a longstanding partnership in the Strasburg Pallet Company.
Richard was a 1953 graduate of Hershey High School, served in the US Army, and received his B.S. in Accounting from Elizabethtown College in 1961. He was a former member of West Willow United Methodist Church for 45 years, where he held lay leadership positions and served as a regular delegate to the Annual Conference of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. With his wife, he established the church’s youth ministry, cooked for banquets and receptions, and taught Sunday School continuously for over 30 years. Many family dinners, banquets, and young couple’s wedding receptions, small and large, were prepared by Richard in the basement kitchen at West Willow.
Dick had a lifelong passion for softball both as a catcher and coach. He coached competitive fastpitch softball at West Willow for nearly two decades and his teams were perennial champions in league and tournament play. At present, he was an active member of the Cornwall United Methodist Church.
Like his parents, Dick was an avid gardener and maintained a large vegetable garden for many years that provided fresh produce to Strasburg neighbors. Dick was a Melvin Jones Fellow, Past President, and 50-year member of the Willow Street Lions Club. He hosted summertime Club picnics and was known for cooking the Club’s famous chicken corn soup. Richard was a 33rd Degree Mason and Past Master of Charles Howe Lodge #496 F.&A.M., Millersville. He was a member of Harrisburg Consistory, Scottish Rite, and York Rite Bodies. Dick served as Chair of the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority, instituted the county’s first recycling program, and oversaw the construction of the waste to energy recovery facility. He also was a board member of the Lancaster Children’s Dyslexia Center, Boy Scouts of America District Commissioner, and Treasurer of the Strasburg-Heisler Library.
Surviving in addition to his wife are a daughter, Elizabeth A. wife of George McKee of Marysville and a son, Michael S. husband of Caryn Spangler of Bexley, Ohio, six grandchildren, Gregory and Amanda McKee, and Emma, Bethany, Gillian, and Maribel Spangler, and many loving nieces and nephews. Like their father, both Beth and Mike are graduates of Elizabethtown College.
He was preceded in death by a brother Earl Spangler, and three sisters, Dorothy Dissinger, Pauline Fox, and Joann Liggett.
Services will be held at the convenience of the family with interment in Gravel Hill Cemetery. Memorial services will be scheduled at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Lancaster Children’s Dyslexia Center or the Cornwall Manor Society, Special Gifts and Memorial Fund in his memory. Kreamer Funeral Home and Crematory, Annville will be handling the arrangements.
