Educator was leader of Evergreen schools

12/10/2006

WAUSEON - David Springer, 89, a former superintendent of the Evergreen Local School District, died of cancer Nov. 26 at the La Posada retirement community in Green Valley, Ariz.

Mr. Springer retired from the district in 1975 after five years as superintendent.

Before he became superintendent, he served 4 1/2 years as the district's high school guidance counselor.

He held bachelor's and master's degrees, both in education, from Ohio State University and also studied for a doctoral degree in administration and guidance at Bowling Green State University.

Before joining Evergreen Local, Mr. Springer worked six years for the Fulton County Board of Education as a curriculum coordinator, and 19 years as a teacher, basketball and baseball coach, principal, and superintendent at the Pettisville Local School District in Fulton County.

Mr. Springer also served for 25 years on the board of the Fulton County Health Center in the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s.

"He enjoyed people. He was a very well-educated man, a spiritual man, a very patriotic man. And he was a lifetime student," his nephew, Dave Springer, said.

The elder Mr. Springer was born in Van Wert, Ohio, and he was raised on a family farm located near Wren, Ohio, graduating about 1935 from Wren High School.

During World War II, Mr. Springer enlisted in the Army and served with the 83rd Infantry Division in Europe and received a battlefield commission. He took part in five campaigns, and he was the recipient of three medals, including the Silver Star.

In 1943, Mr. Springer married Helen Rychener. She died in 2003.

In retirement, Mr. Springer, who lived in Wauseon at the time, took to spending winters in Green Valley, to which he moved in 1992.

He enjoyed playing golf, traveling, and watching harness racing. He was an Arizona Wildcats fan.

Mr. Springer was a longtime member of St. John's Christian Church, Archbold, Ohio. He also was an associate member of the Valley Presbyterian Church, Green Valley.

There are no immediate survivors.

There will be no visitation. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Jan. 6 at St. John's Christian Church, Archbold.

Arrangements are by Edgar-Grisier Funeral Home, Wauseon.

It is suggested that tributes be made to St. John's Christian Church, the Pettisville Foundation, the Evergreen Local School District, or the Springer Scholarship at St. John's Christian Church.