Rt. Rev. William B. Spofford
1921 ~ 2013
Former Boise resident and dean of St. Michael's Cathedral, the Rt. Rev. William B. (Bill) Spofford, 4th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon (1969-79) and Assistant Bishop of Washington (DC) (1979-1984), died November 5, 2013, at his home in Portland, Oregon, at the age of 92.
Bishop Spofford was born January 28, 1921, in Brooklyn, NY, and was raised in Middletown, New Jersey. He graduated from Lenox School for Boys in Lenox, MA, from Antioch College, and from the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge. He later studied at the Yale School of Alcohol Studies and earned an MSW from the University of Michigan. He was ordained in 1945, served churches in Boston, Detroit and Weiser, Payette and McCall, Idaho, and was chaplain at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In 1969, while at St. Michael's Cathedral, Bill was elected the Bishop of Eastern Oregon, where he spent 10 years before becoming assistant bishop of the Diocese of Washington (DC), from which he retired.
Bishop Spofford's wife of 64 years, the former Pauline (Polly) Fawcett, at one time a teacher at Boise and Capital High Schools, died in 2008. He is survived by his sister, Suzanne Rester; sister-in-law Temple Fawcett; sons Tim, Mark, Andrew, Stephen, and Daniel; 8 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
Memorial services are planned for 11:00 AM, December 21, at Trinity Cathedral in Portland and 11:00 AM, January 11, 2014, at Ascension Camp and School in Cove, Oregon.
Published in Idaho Statesman on Nov. 10, 2013