T. "Lee" Spurgeon's Obituary
Thornton 'Lee' Spurgeon, age 76, of Moulton, Iowa, died Friday, November 13, 2015, at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa. He was born the son of Lloyd and Isabelle (McKenzie) Spurgeon on September 24, 1939 south of Moulton, Iowa in Davis County. He graduated from the Moulton Schools in 1958.Lee was united in marriage to Bonnie Melvin and they were later divorced and to this union three children were born. Lee farmed north of Moulton for many years. He began pitching softball as a sophomore in high school. Paul Reberry came to Moulton as a baseball coach and inspired him to take up pitching. He pitched his 1st men's fast pitch game in 1956 and didn't miss a single year until 2012. Lee pitched for a lot of different teams from Iowa and Missouri over the years. He didn't keep an 'official' track of games pitched, but estimated them to be over 3000 during his lifetime. He pitched in 50 State Tournaments; 7 Regional Tournaments and 24 National Tournaments. Of all the softball playing, the most important and enjoyable thing for Lee was the teaching of girls to pitch and play all aspects of the game. He was allowed to use the Moulton-Udell gym for over 27 years to teach girls to pitch, never once taking payment to do so. He would work with girls every Sunday afternoon from January to April. To that end, Lee had 24 girls receive full ride scholarships to play softball which amounted to over a Million dollars in education. 9 girls got their high school teams to state tournaments in Iowa and Missouri. He had 3 girls pitch in NAIA National Tournaments; 3 girls pitch Division I. He was the pitching coach for Graceland University in Lamoni for a few years.He was preceded in death by: his Parents; his brother, Loren Spurgeon; a son, Brian Spurgeon and a granddaughter, Amanda Spurgeon.Lee is survived by: His best friend and companion, Judy Stevenson of Moulton, Iowa; his son, Bradley Spurgeon and his wife, Robin of Centerville, Iowa; a daughter, Sherry Roach of Lafayette, Louisiana; brothers, Russel Spurgeon of Moulton, Iowa, Richard Spurgeon and his wife, Joyce of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Roy Spurgeon and his wife, Vicki of Centerville, Iowa, Lyle Spurgeon and his wife, Joyce of Drakesville, Iowa; and a sister, Eloise Burns and her husband, Raymond of Moulton, Iowa; sister-in-law, Rowena Spurgeon of Des Moines, Iowa; grandchildren, Chad Spurgeon of Centerville, Iowa, Kristen Spurgeon of Exline, Iowa, Justin Spurgeon of Centerville, Iowa, Kaylee Spurgeon of Lafayette, Louisiana and Delaney Roach of Lafayette Louisiana; inherited children, Susan Stevenson of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Joe and Jeff Stevenson both of Moulton, Iowa.Funeral services will be held at 10 am, Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at the Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Centerville, Iowa with Rev. Reg Higginbottom officiating. He will be laid to rest in the Sunset View Cemetery north of Moulton, Iowa. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, November 17, 2015 from 2 pm until 8 pm at the funeral home with the family present from 6 pm until 8 pm.Memorials can be made to either the St. Jude Children's Hospital or to Make A Wish Foundation and left or mailed to the funeral home. The To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of T. "Lee" Spurgeon please visit our Sympathy Store.
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