Frederick Lionel Spencer, Junior would have been thrilled with the beautiful spring weather that began to break through just as he died. The exquisite 360-degree views from his and his wife, Molly's, home at Tip Top were greening up beautifully, the dogs were shaking off their winter coats, the birds were tuning up in every tree, and the projects he planned to begin, complete or continue were everywhere in evidence.

Taken as quickly as he moved through life, Fred Spencer left a legacy of friends and colleagues who loved him dearly, and a legend that will live forever in the annals of the Renaissance man.

"He was my best and most exasperating friend," reminisced his brother-in-law and University of Virginia fraternity brother Hunter de Butts. "The de Butts family is a very big organization, but Fred quickly became a very big part of it."

His three daughters, Custis Glover of Rye, New York, Martha Burke of Upperville, Virginia and Anne Zapletal of New Milford, Connecticut have closed ranks for a while at Tip Top with their mother, Molly.

"He was always spontaneous," Custis and Martha remembered. "From when we were little, when he would organize us into a marching band with pots and pans before dinner, to the many lessons he gave us in everything from "beagling" to swimming, to singing, to skiing, to running, to tennis, to sailing and so much more, he was never in need of something to teach us or something to do."

Fred Spencer, well loved by all who knew him, was a man on a mission to get as much done in his life as humanly possible. According to those who knew him best, he got very close to his goal. Through his marriage, he was related to almost everyone in Upperville and, although he considered Middleburg 'the big city,' he was a friend of and to almost everyone in town.

Franny Crawford wrote in her remembrance of Fred that, although Molly's parents might have worried about her marrying such an impetuous, creative and brash young man, they embraced his "creativity" with understanding and love. "….Of all the many loves of Fred's life, Molly was his greatest," she continued. "How many were the times Molly's radiant smile would follow him, no matter where….. She lifted him up and gave him permission and encouragement to be the quirky and interesting man he was."

The accident that took Fred's life was not his first serious accident. When he was hit by lightening standing on the running board of his 1948 Woodie, he was thrown 20 feet. His wry smile was the result of a tractor that tipped over crushing his cheekbone while he was building his pond. He rapidly ensured the demise of two of Molly's new cars, one after he ran over a piece of concrete rubble on interstate 81, and the other when he forget to set the emergency brake when he parked on a steep embankment and rushed off to a party.

Fred was born in Chicago, attended high school in Colorado, and attended the University of Virginia where he met Molly through her brothers. They were engaged while he served in Korea. They married in 1955 and moved to Everett, Washington where Fred had a job in the lumber business. He started at entry level on the river poling logs to the mills, and he moved up from there.

"He loved wood," said his daughter Anne. "He was always building something or finding a log he couldn't resist for a new project. He was a painter, and had just begun taking watercolor lessons because he said he "…had a lot to learn."

He and Molly lived on her parents' farm while they were building Tip Top, an astoundingly beautiful stone and timber crown on the very top of a hill surrounded by breathtakingly beautiful Virginia countryside. The home is filled with light and art and cosmopolitan treasures. Evidence of Fred's passions is everywhere. Silver framed photos of myriad endeavor, with his children, his grandchildren, his dogs, his friends and, everywhere, with Molly.

"He loved the countryside, the light, nature and all the flora and fauna. He loved the different seasons, but he didn't really enjoy the depth of winter," Martha said. "That's when he wanted to travel to some beautiful, sunny spot in the islands."

Gloria Armfield of Middleburg met Fred in the mid-70's when he restored her barn. "He was exceptionally kind," she said, "our families had been going to the beach together for over 20 year. He got me started in my real es- tate career and was enthusiastic about everyone he knew and everything he started."

Fred loved to travel, and visited many corners of the world with Molly. Lisa Patterson of Middleburg remembers walking up the steps of the Paris Opera with her husband, Tom, and meeting Fred and Molly coming down.

"He learned to ski in Colorado, and he was a very good skier," Custis continued. "He had mastered moguling on his trip to Canada this winter," Anne added. "Yes," Martha laughed. "He was very proud of that."

In addition to being a mountain climber, in all senses, Fred was an active member of the Middleburg Players, the Fauquier Philosophical Society (aka poker night or the Red Chip Society) and many choral groups, he was a poet.

"We found folders full of poetry he'd written," said Custis. "And files and files of poems on his computer."

Among his many spiritual endeavors, Fred was one of Trinity Church's "Mens Flower Guild" a group of artistic gentlemen who created arrangements for the Church on Sunday's and special occasions. Franny recounts a moment when Fred was working on an arrangement of a Sunday service when Bishop Townsend came by to talk a look. The arrangement was in the shape of a cross, and, in typical fashion, Fred had used a piece of log he found in the Church yard to form part of the design. When the Bishop queried the arrangement, Fred carefully explained that it represented the Father, the Son and the Holy Post.

And, Fred kept lists. To-do lists organized into "This Week, This Year, In Five Years, and "In Twenty Years." Among the many things he intended to get done, one stood out: "Make more friends" . . . an action item that Fred Spencer had already done very, very well.

Fred was buried in his "Ice Cream Suit" just as he instructed, a creamy vanilla plaid outfit he dearly loved, and that his children found pressed and stored in a box labeled "Open in Case of Emergency." Tyler Gore, a good friend who owns the Royston Funeral Home, made him a handsome pine box just like the one Fred and is sister, Georgia, and his cousin, Franny had made for Fred's mother.

As a token of thanks for his kindness, Molly gave Tyler Fred's musical instrument of choice, his beloved one-string "Gut Bucket," that Fred had played with such pleasure when he and Tyler were on stage with the Middleburg Players.

Chance, Fred's last dog, is still searching for him. Without question, he's not alone.

The New Day Feel

Of course you know the feeling.
When the day has just begun.
When thoughts abound around you
And goals are yet undone.
What a nice thing the Lord gave us
For these times, they are the best.
What will you accomplish
Before you lay down and rest?

So do not waste them, Brother.
Do not let them slip away.
For you may not have another
...New Day.

FLS 6/12/01