Getting to Know Us: Bob & Betty Spargur

Betty and Bob Spargur have been church people all their lives. Betty has known Bob since she was seven years old. Their families often did things together when Betty and Bob were children. Betty’s family belonged to Centenary Christian Church, and Betty “re-met” Bob at Centenary after he returned to Indianapolis after being in the Army. They have now been married for 53 years. They recently took a ten-day cruise through the Panama Canal and the Caribbean Islands. Her scrapbook of the trip was a treat to see and would be an inspiration to any scrapbook hobbyist. She enjoys collecting shot glasses from places that they have visited and has a collection of over 300. A shot glass from Hawaii is the one the furthest from home, although friends and families have sent her some from other places around the world.

Betty worked at Ulrich Chemicals and its previous organization for 27 years. He final position was as billing clerk. When Betty retired, she worked for an organization called “Comfort Keepers” that provided care and transportation to people who were too ill to drive or did not have a way to get to their doctor or where they needed to go. She worked with them for 5 years and met some very interesting people. She and Margie Ray were Co-Directors of the Centenary Food Pantry, and they provided a lot of support and guidance to the Food Pantry beyond the day when food was distribute. She ordered the food from Gleaners Food Bank to supplement the food donated to the pantry. She and Margie ran the Centenary Food Pantry for seven years.

Betty was the second of four children. She and Bob have three boys themselves. Two live in the area and one lives in Florida.

Bob knew Betty back when she was seven years old. Both of their families attended church together, and they sometimes played together. After he finished school, the draft came along and he joined the Army where he served in Vietnam. While in the Army, Bob was tested and evaluated along with everyone in military service, and it was determined that he was good at math. He worked with first-generation missiles to determine trajectory by measuring distance, weather, and all other kinds of calculations. He served in Vietnam for three months of his time in the army. He recalled that re-entry into the work world was a challenge to veterans. He used the GI bill to get an education and that got him back to work. He had a number of jobs and his interest and strength in math was very helpful to him. He did some bookkeeping work and also some consultation work for Mayflower Moving. Bob worked in the suit department at J C Penney’s. He eventually started his own business as a Professional Recruiter for large companies such as RCA, Wave Tech, Regency Electronics, and Magnavox. He still does this kind of work in his retirement.

Bob loves to do wood working projects and the Spargur home is filled with his work: small pieces of furniture that he has built and larger pieces of furniture that he has repaired, restored, and refinished. He especially has enjoyed building a toybox for his great- granddaughter. Bob’s woodworking and wood shop skills go beyond home as he has helped to build two wheelchair ramps. He also does building maintenance at ACC along with his longtime church friends, David Stansifer and Bob Burrows. Their most recent contribution at church has been the storage shelves behind the sacristy where many of the church Christmas decorations are stored.

Going back to Bob and Betty, after his return to Indianapolis from the Army he re-discovered Betty at their home church of Centenary Christian Church. They have now been married for 53 years, and one of their favorite retirement activities has been traveling. Bob stated that he enjoyed all the special meals and meeting people on the cruise liner. If you would like a good story, you can ask him how to open an individually coded hotel or cruse line safe once the code doesn’t register. It involves some special tools and maybe getting someone out of bed late at night. But if your passport is locked in there you’ve got to get it opened!