Nell Rae Spitler

Rae was born Nell Rae Pickens on May 14,1923, in Healdton, Oklahoma to Dewey and Eva Mae Pickens. She was the oldest of three children, and had a happy childhood surrounded by her immediate family as well as uncles and aunts and grandparents. Although she grew up during the Great Depression, she often said, “We were poor, but everyone was poor, so you never felt any different.”

After she graduated from Healdton High School in 1941, she moved with her family to the town of Levelland, TX, where her father operated a small grocery store.

In 1947, she married a young farmer, Irvin Spitler, and they farmed land in Texas and southern New Mexico. By 1954, Rae was blessed with raising four children.

Rae and Irvin valued community involvement and were active with the local school board.  They were also the driving force behind the building of the First Baptist Church in the small town of Columbus, NM. Rae was the church pianist, led bible studies, children’s programs, and planned the church’s social activities. Her church involvement continued after Rae and Irvin moved to Phoenix, AZ, in 1958.  She and the family were active in North Phoenix Baptist Church and Royal Palms Baptist Church.

In 1959 Rae and Irvin started a small business called Southwest Pipe and Supply. She helped make the business a success while still raising her four children and instilling them with the values of family, education, hard work, and giving back to the community. She also became a proficient photographer, painter, and ball room dancer.

Rae always had an adventurous spirit, and in the 1970s and 1980s, she began to explore the world. During that time, Rae traveled to approximately 50 countries, many of which were more adventurous and rugged than most tourists would dare travel at that time. She slept on a grass mat in Tibet, visited with primitive tribes in New Caledonia, marveled at the Himalayas in Nepal, smelled the spices of India, narrowly escaped Iran days before the overthrow of the Shah, picnicked under fig trees in Saudi Arabia, walked barefoot through the stupas of Sri Lanka, photographed lions on African safaris, walked among the giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands, and explored the ruins of ancient civilizations in Central and South America.

Despite these exotic foreign travels, Rae’s true love was the history, culture, and natural wonders of Arizona. She explored the state in her small motor home, hiked the Grand Canyon and the Havasupai Trail several times, and once she spent eight days rafting on the Colorado River. In her later years, she organized tours of Arizona for senior citizens and shared her love of the state with hundreds of new friends and acquaintances. She was known for wearing her beautiful Native American jewelry, promenading on the square-dance floor, and baking Texas sheet cake at Christmas.

In her late 40’s she enrolled at, then, Grand Canyon College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, majoring in History and Behavioral Science with minors in Bible and English Literature. She also served on the Board of Trustees for Grand Canyon College for three years and was active in raising funds for the college.  Her love of education led her to set up college funds for all of her eleven great-grandchildren.

Rae passed away peacefully at the age of 97 well-lived years in Glendale, Arizona. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Ann Bennett, and her long-time companion, Jack Lassen.  Jack and Rae shared a love of Arizona and were still visiting Arizona attractions in their late 80s and 90s.  

She is survived by three children, Daniel, Kay, and Dewey Spitler, and daughters-in-laws Pam and Dusty Spitler, all living in Arizona. She is also survived and admired by seven grandchildren, and eleven great grandchildren.

Rae helped to start the Spitler School Foundation, which provides support to rural students in Cambodia, one of the many countries she visited in Southeast Asia. Donations in her memory can be made at www.spitlerschool.org.

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