Lester Dean Spencer, 89, known by all as Dean Spencer of Lafayette, IN, and formerly of Bedford, IN, passed away peacefully on January 21, 2024, at Franciscan Health Lafayette East, following a short illness.
Born in Fort Wayne, IN, on June 17, 1934, Dean was the son of Lester Graham Spencer and Ruth (Dennis) Spencer of Largo, FL, and formerly of Richmond, IN.
After the family moved from Ohio, Dean graduated from Richmond High School as class valedictorian in 1952.
Dean then headed to Purdue University, where he studied Electrical Engineering, joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity, and met Barbara Ann Friedle on the steps of the University Church. He subsequently married her on Christmas Eve of 1955. Dean started his professional life after graduating in 1956 with a B.S. EE.
Dean and Barbara left Indiana to fulfill Dean’s active duty (Army ROTC) obligation in Oklahoma. They then moved to Milwaukee, where Dean had taken a job with Allen-Bradley Co. Moves to PA and NJ (Philadelphia area) followed.
After some time, he left Allen Bradley. He returned to Indiana, where he worked as an engineer at Richmond Power and Light Company, and his father managed a small broadcast corporation. Central Broadcasting of Indiana owned local Richmond station WKBV and a few others in Indiana and eastern Ohio. Dean’s ‘life’s work’ came when he moved his family to Bedford, Indiana, in 1974, where he became general manager of radio station WBIW 1340 AM, recently added to the portfolio of Central Broadcasting Corporation. In subsequent years, he was granted two additional FCC station licenses and launched WBIF FM and WWEG FM. Dean spent the next four decades managing these three commercial radio stations in Lawrence County, IN. The two FM stations are WQRK, 105.5, Southern Indiana Classic Hits and Litefm 102.5, and 1340 WBIW, an AM station. All three stations are still in operation today, serving the local communities.
Upon the sale of Central Broadcasting some years later, Dean put a second mortgage against the family house, gathered a few highly trusted and deeply valued investors, and orchestrated a leveraged buy-out of the Bedford stations he had been managing. This resulted in two corporations under his leadership:
AdVenture Media, Inc. and Mitchell Broadcasting. While producing a viable business (and livelihood), Dean was committed to keeping the station ownership local, which he thought was very important, given that many radio stations had been sold to large conglomerates and had lost all local focus. He truly wanted to support his beloved local community. Finances were challenging, with large loans to repay, but eventually, the businesses gained a firm footing.
Always intently focused on managing his businesses well, Dean was a charter member of the International Broadcasters Idea Bank, involved with the National Association of Broadcasters and the Indiana Broadcasters Association, including being proclaimed an Indiana Broadcast Pioneer and inducted into the Indiana Broadcast Hall of Fame, along with his father, Lester Graham Spencer.
Over the years, Dean has been involved in many civic and community organizations, including being president of the Bedford Kiwanis Club, Mitchell Indiana Chamber of Commerce director, and local United Way board president.
Dean was an active member of Richmond Sailing Club and later the Lake Monroe Sailing Association, where, over two decades, he raced Snipe and Thistle class sailboats with varying combinations of his kids as crew, winning a few regattas along the way, but mostly just loving the time on the water with family. Dean was also a licensed pilot for 40 years and enjoyed owning and flying a few light airplanes, making many trips to the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual fly-in convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and other family and business trips. Always the electrical engineer, Dean enjoyed electrical and electronic projects, as well as guiding the engineering aspects of keeping his three radio stations up and running.
Dean was also a life-long fan of Purdue sports -especially football, where he held season tickets for decades. Professing the Lordship of Christ, the Spencers were active members of the Bedford Free Methodist church from the time the family arrived in Bedford until Dean and Barbara left Bedford for Lafayette, Indiana, in 2020 to spend their golden years closer to family, where they joined Faith Church, Lafayette.
The Lord blessed Dean with a wonderful family and successful businesses, and he ‘had a good run’ in this life. He never had any long-term health issues and was able to live primarily unassisted in his home with his wife of 68 years until only five days before his passing.
Dean is survived by his loving family, including his wife Barbara, 91; his brother Jeffrey Spencer of Chillicothe, OH; three children: Stuart (Carmela) Spencer of Vista, CA, Susan (Joseph) Blake of Lafayette, IN, Scott (Carey) Spencer of Brownsburg, IN; Grandchildren: Courtney, Alexander, Trevor, Erika, Julie, Ezra,
Shannon, Silas, Luke, Zara, Carys, Aric, and 16 great-grandchildren as of this writing.
A celebration of life in Dean’s honor will be held at the radio station, 424 Heltonville Road West, Bedford, Indiana, on Saturday, August 3, from 2 to 4 p.m.
