The other obituary

My journalism degree qualifies me to write all of the family obituaries. That’s something they forget to tell you in j-school.

Grimes Spillman

Woodford Grimes Spillman died Jan. 29, 2013. He was 86.

Spillman was born Jan. 17, 1927, in Lawson, Mo. He lived most of his life in Jamesport, Mo., where he was president and CEO of Home Exchange Bank. He held offices in banking organizations and at one time served as regional vice president of the Missouri Bankers Association.

Spillman was a licensed insurance agent and broker, and real estate broker. He was active in several Jamesport businesses, including a lumber yard, Laundromat, property management and Western Auto store, as well as community affairs. He retired in 1977, and moved to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in 1983. There, Spillman worked for a short time at the First National Bank of South Padre Island, and served as executive director of the Rio Grande Valley Subcontractors Association. He owned and managed the Oakridge Apartment Complex in Harlingen, Texas, from 1995 until his death.

Spillman enlisted in the U.S. Maritime Service during World War II, serving overseas with the U.S. Merchant Marines. He received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Coast Guard in 1946.

Spillman is survived by two daughters, Barbara Smith of Blackwater, Mo., and Sherry and K.D. Whitt of Princeton, Mo.; one son, Terry and Cindy Spillman of Trenton, Mo.; eight grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. He was preceded in death by his parents, Albert V. and Estelle Spillman of Jamesport, Mo.; and one brother, Albert V. Spillman Jr. of California.

Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 23, 2013, at Buck Ashcraft Funeral Home in Harlingen, Texas, and at 10:30 a.m. March 9, 2013, at United Methodist Church in Jamesport, Mo.

Five years ago, I wrote my grandmother’s obituary, too.