SPENCER TAKES OVER AS NEW DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SECURITY

Ted Spencer was no stranger when he walked into the district Social Security office at Cape Girardeau earlier this month.

Spencer is the new district manager of the local office, which is comprised of 13 counties and maintains offices in Cape Girardeau, Kennett, Flat River and Sikeston. He was previously assigned to positions within the district.

Spencer, who was named in December to succeed Gary Eason at Cape Girardeau, served as district manager at Poplar Bluff for the past four years. He also has served as branch manager at Kennett and earlier, as operations supervisor at Flat River.

Eason announced his retirement, effective in January.

"I'm familiar with the Cape Girardeau district, and I already know many of the employees," Spencer said. "I'm happy to be returning to the Cape Girardeau district.

"I know this district has a fine operation," he added. "Gary Eason had things well organized here."

Spencer, who resides at Kennett, said he was looking forward to moving to the Cape Girardeau area. "Two of my boys William and Jay are seniors at Kennett," he said. "They'll be attending Southeast Missouri State University this fall."

Spencer and his wife, Donna, are parents of five children. The other children are Pam, 21, Katie, 15, and Ray, 14.

"My wife works as a front-end supervisor at Kroger," he said. "With four children at school in Kennett, we'll wait until the school term ends before moving the family to Cape Girardeau."

Spencer received a bachelor's degree at Kalamazoo (Mich.) College and received a Ph.D in Philosophy at the University of Iowa.

He started his career with Social Security in Iowa City, Iowa, as a claims representative in 1977. He was assigned as supervisor at Flat River in 1982 and as branch manager at Kennett in 1985. He became district manager at Poplar Bluff in 1988.