Luverne John Spieker's Obituary
Luverne John Spieker, 92, died February 1, 2015 in Dallas, Texas. Verne was born April 22, 1922 in Renville, MN to John Spieker and Carrie Witmer Spieker. He spent his childhood in Montevideo, MN and graduated from Brainard High School. His education continued at Iowa State College, but was interrupted by his enlistment in the Navy in 1942. After serving in the US Navy on several destroyers in the South Pacific, he returned to complete Bachelor of Science degrees in Mathematics at Gustavus Adolphus College and Electrical Engineering at Iowa State in 1948. Verne later earned a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University in 1952. Working in oil exploration with Geophysical Sciences Incorporated (GSI), Verne was sent to northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. It was on a fortuitous break from work when he met his future wife, Betty Jean Engemoen while skiing in Banff. After their wedding in Calgary, Alberta February 2, 1952, they moved to Dallas, where he resided almost continuously until his death. In Dallas, he began what would be a 35 year career with Texas Instruments, culminating in a year spent in Germany prior to retirement. Despite a busy professional and family life, Verne loved to travel, and his favorite trips were those spent camping with the kids. It was while packing the Dodge Coronet 500 that his spatial planning skills became legendary. Remarkably, they managed to see much of Canada, the midwest and western US, despite stopping for each historical marker along the way. Later, he relished multiple trips to Europe and South America with Jean. In addition to English he spoke German and Chinese. His hobbies included such diverse activities as skiing, wine making, clock repair, classical guitar, and cycling, and all were embraced with enthusiasm. He is survived by Jean, his wife of 63 years, his children, Dawn Spieker Miller (Bruce) of Midland, John Brian Spieker, MD of Dallas, and Diane Susan Spieker, MD (Rusty Brown) of Phoenix; grandchildren, Ian Miller, MD, Matthew Miller, Mackenzie Brown and Devon Brown; brother-in law, Byron Backus MD, and nieces and nephew in Minnesota. Among many wonderful lessons passed on to his kids, he and Jean instilled a wonderful work ethic and a respect for cultural diversity. The service for Luverne will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2015 at 10:00 AM in The Wildwood Chapel at Restland Funeral Home. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, at Restland Road, Dallas, TX 75243. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (jdrf.org) or North Dallas Shared Ministries (ndsm.org), where Verne volunteered for many years, providing food and clothing to the indigent.
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