Brian Clayton Spencer - Obituary

rian Clayton Spencer of Annapolis, Maryland, passed peacefully into heaven at his home surrounded by family on August 26, 2025. Brian was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 24, 1940 to Lester and Esther Spencer. Brian loved the outdoors and camping since he was a child. He was a Boy Scout and a Boy Scout Counselor for several summers in his late teens/early 20s. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1962. Brian moved to California, where he met his loving wife, Joan, who he married in 1964. Brian began his career in 1962 working for defense contractors including Douglas Aircraft, IBM, Lockheed, and Lutton Systems as a computer analyst and programmer. He analyzed problems with missile trajectory, telemetry, flight, vibration and stress. In 1977, he began his career as a Computer Systems Analyst with the federal government. He worked for the FBI (Computer Equipment Analyst), Department of Justice (Assistant Director of Computer Technology and Telecommunications), and the General Accounting Office (Technical Assistant Director of Government-wide and Defense Information Systems). Highlights include working on establishing a data center for DOJ in support of the 1984 summer Olympics, and assessing the impact of the “year 2000” switch on the entire federal government’s computer systems for GAO. He was revered for his technical expertise and was chosen to lead the technically complex GAO audits. He retired in 2000. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather. He was an active Christian in the Lutheran church. He loved boating, fishing, crabbing, vegetable gardening and grocery shopping for the “best deal.” He loved to walk. He would walk to the Marc train station from home to work and to grocery stores. Brian will be deeply missed and is survived by his wife of 61 years, Joan Spencer; his daughters, Laura Loomis (Ramon Matheu) and Nancy McNiff; his grandchildren, Andrew Loomis, David Loomis and Sarah Loomis; and his sister, Karen Kiefer. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 27 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 1370 Defense Highway, Gambrills, MD 21054. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to Hospice of the Chesapeake. https://www.hospicechesapeake.org/giving/donate-now/., or St. Paul's Lutheran Church at https://www.stpaulscrofton.com/donate.