If you are ever in the sports complex and you see a rather wrinkled man with an American eagle tattooed on one arm and a cross on the other, bespectacled and smiling, with a jolly glint in his eye as he happily changes a garbage bag or sorts through stinky football socks, you are probably looking at David Spence.
A twelve-year veretan of the George H. Roche Sports Complex custodial crew, Spence retired three weeks ago. But that cannot keep him from “my sports complex,” as he calls it. Even though he is no longer on the payroll, Spence likes to visit the complex whenever he thinks his team members might need help.
“I’ll just come down,” Spence said. “I can’t officially do labor, but if someone needs guidance going to the office, or if I can volunteer for something, I’ll do it. There is just so much in that building that has to be done we have to know when a game is going to happen or when practice will happen. They must have their clothes and the floors have to be clean. It is a challenge each day just keeping up, but it was fun.”
This is only one manifestation of the love Spence has for his work, his building, his players, and his coaches.
Originally, though, this job was a disappointment. Spence’s first job out of high school was for Hillsdale Tools.
“That’s what I always did my whole life. I was a metal worker,” Spence said. “I got that from my father. He was a tin smith. That’s all I thought I could do, be a factory worker. When I was introduced into the service, I was someone who didn’t need a diploma. They just said come on in and you can get a GED.”
But over thirty years later, providence intervened, and Hillsdale Tools layed Spence off. Suddenly, free from what he thought he had to do, Spence decided to enroll in Jackson Community College. He graduated at 55 with a diploma as a network administrator, eager to storm the market with his services, only to realize that demand for a 55-year-old “IT guy” was slim to none.
So, his turn to custodial work at the college was one of last resort, but, surprisingly, became “one of the best times in my life,” Spence said.
“It is one of the best jobs I have ever had. I have been so happy there,” Spence said. “I could be me while I was there. I could be comical or serious. I could clap someone on the back and it was accepted.” Within the Sports Complex, Spence was universally beloved by athletes, administration, coaches, and fellow custodians alike.
Senior Kathryn Bassett, a member of the track team, first met Spence when she was a freshman. They have been friends since, and Spence affectionately calls Bassett “Sunshine” whenever they meet in the halls of the Sports Complex.
Bassett said that one of the most amazing things about Spence is that he truly cares about what he does. When he says he will attend a game, he follows through on his word. He also rises above his janitorial duties to create spreadsheets compiling game times and schedules to keep track of all the laundry that needs to be done and floors that need to be washed so athletes can perform at their highest level.
Bassett said Spence will drop everything to be there for her or anyone else. Literally.
“One time he had this stack of towels in his hands and he saw me and dropped it and gave me a big hug,” Bassett said. “His intentionality, eye contact, smile, his desire to get to know us, I think all of that is what makes him special, and I think it’s mutual … There’s something missing without him.”
His great niece and nephew Mary and Ezra Bertakis attested to that mutuality. They explained that Spence had a special connection with the baseball team. When two of his brothers died in the same year, the entire baseball team, including senior pitcher Josh Stella, skipped practice to come to the funeral in support of Spence.
“We listened to him tell stories about his brother and his past,” Stella said. “We had 25 or 30 of our guys there, just trying to help him through. I know that meant a lot to him, and that meant a lot to us.
The football team also invited Spence to their Christmas banquet as a special guest. They also honored him in an ex-military tribute.
The administration bequeathed him a lifetime membership to the Sports Complex.
The community’s appreciation for Spence is clear.
“He is a good listener,” Mary Bertakis said. “That’s why everyone loved him.”
Everyone’s love for Spence seems to stem from Spence’s love for everyone else. Spence did not want to talk about himself, or any of the things that the Sports Complex has done to honor him. He wanted to talk about the people he loves.
“I want to brag up the custodian people. They are wonderful. It’s like a little family,” Spence said. “And I gotta brag more about my Sports Complex people, because we really have to work hard with each other.”
Spence also said that he not only appreciates the honor code, but really believes students live by it.
“Being with you students and the staff, I have learned so much. There is one part of your mission statement I have always remembered: ‘Strength rejoices in the challenge.’ That has stuck with me and it seems like everyone of you students stand by that,” Spence said. “I am so impressed by your actions and respect, and I am so proud and honored to be part of the future of this world. Y’all are the future.”
For Spence, the idea that he could become a meaningful part of all of the lives he passes through is itself the reward.
“If I say something to someone and they remember 20 years down the road that ‘the custodian told me this,’ then I made an impression on someone,” Spence said. “That, to me, is so important. If I can make an impression on someone, I have accomplished something.”