wfn.org | Lutheran in Congress Floyd Spence Dies

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 17, 2001

LUTHERAN IN CONGRESS FLOYD SPENCE DIES
01-214-FI
     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- U.S. Representative Floyd D. Spence (R-S.C. 2nd)
died Aug. 16 in Jackson, Miss.  He was 73.  Spence was one of 20
Lutherans in the 107th Congress -- a member of St. Peter Lutheran
Church, Lexington, S.C., a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA).
     Funeral services will be held at First Baptist Church in the state
capital, Columbia, S.C.  The date of the service is to be determined.
Spence's body will lie in state in the South Carolina State House.
     Spence entered the hospital on July 24 for treatment of a nerve
disorder -- Bell's palsy.  Surgeons removed a blood clot from his brain
Aug. 9.  He slipped into a coma and never regained consciousness.
     In 1990, Spence gave the keynote address for the first assembly of
Lutheran Men in Mission, the men's organization of the ELCA.  The
assembly was held at Newberry College, Newberry, S.C., a college of the
ELCA.
       Spence told the assembly he used subtle opportunities in the
political arena to express his Christian faith.  He said his recent
double-lung transplant encouraged him to "tell people there is hope" in
a "sinful world" that often offers no hope.
     Born in Columbia, Spence was elected student body president there
at the University of South Carolina (USC).  He earned degrees from USC
and the USC School of Law.  He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean
conflict (1952-1954) and in the U.S. Naval Reserves (1948-1985).
     Spence served the South Carolina Legislature as a representative
(1956-1962) and as a senator (1966-1970).  In November 1970, he was
elected to U.S. House of Representatives -- the position he held until
his death.  Spence served on the House National Security, Armed Services
and Veterans' Affairs committees.
     Another Lutheran in Congress, U.S. Senator Ernest F. "Fritz"
Hollings (D-S.C.) said of Spence, "He was an outstanding public servant,
a dedicated South Carolinian and a longtime friend."
     "As a Congressman, he will be remembered as a true friend of the
men and women in our armed services and a steadfast servant of his
fellow South Carolinians," said President George W. Bush.  "I am deeply
saddened by the loss of my friend Floyd Spence.  He was a leader of
great courage and determination."
     Bush noted that Spence underwent double-lung transplant surgery in
1988.  Spence married Deborah Williams in the hospital suite where he
staged his recovery that year.  He is survived by his wife and four
sons.
     The 15 remaining Lutherans in the U.S. House of Representatives
are Douglas K. Bereuter (R-Neb. 1st), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio 13th), Lois
Capps (D-Calif. 22nd), Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash. 6th), Darlene Hooley (D-
Ore. 5th), Ron Kind (D-Wis. 3rd), Tom Latham (R-Iowa 5th), Jim Nussle
(R-Iowa 2nd), Doug Ose (R-Calif. 3rd), Michael Oxley (R-Ohio 4th),
Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn. 7th), Thomas E. Petri (R-Wis. 6th), Martin
Olav Sabo (D-Minn. 5th), John M. Shimkus (R-Ill. 20th) and Charles W.
Stenholm (D-Texas 17th).
     The four Lutherans in the U.S. Senate are Conrad Burns (R-Mont.),
Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), Hollings and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).
     All are members of the ELCA, except Senator Burns and
Representatives Bereuter and Shimkus who are members of The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod, and Representative Kind who is a member of the
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

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