Andrews Mortuary
Samuel S. Spicer, MD, 74, of Wilmington, NC, died Saturday, August 17, 2024, at his home. Sam was born in Washington, DC, the youngest child of Gertrude McRae Spicer and Dr. Samuel Sherman Spicer. He graduated from Emory University and MUSC. It was during his residency at Riverside Hospital in Newport News, Va. that he met his wife, Jane.
Sam and Jane lived and worked in Florida and Greenville NC before settling down to raise four boys in Wilmington. He practiced emergency medicine at NHRMC, Cape Fear hospital and MEDAC and was honored as NC Emergency Physician of the year in 2001. He pushed for the modernization of NHRMC with electronic medical records and advocated for practitioners and patients throughout his career and served in many leadership roles including Director, Board Member, Chief of Staff and Vice President at NHRMC.
Sam's patience and kindness were well known. He was humble, balanced, low key, fair, and sometimes goofy. His family remembers many outdoor vacations, typically involving sailing with safety first, but many "walks on the wild side". Sam loved sailing, soccer, biking, snowboarding, making stuff and doing things with his family.
Sam worked to improve his community and his world. He helped found the Carousel Center where abused children could be seen and treated with the special care they deserved. He served on the board of NCHICA to promote and regulate electronic sharing of health data and information in our state. He served on the board of Terry Benjey Foundation, trying to make biking safe and accessible. He was a member of the Cape Fear Cyclists and biked across NC on several of the Mountains to the Coast rides. He rode in the "Assault on Mt Mitchell" race, and participated in many local triathlons and a Half-Iron Man race.
Sam spent time volunteering in Mississippi, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Haiti and Sierra Leone, where he found a special cause with Mission of Hope/Rotifunk, building local medical capacity for underserved people. He was an active member of Grace UMC, and served in various leadership roles.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Kenneth McRae Spicer and his sister Eleanor Spicer Reuben. Survivors include his wife, his sons Pete Spicer, Matt Spicer (Emily), Allen Spicer (Riley), and Kirk Spicer (Alex), his three grandsons, Finley, Oliver and Leo (whose antics always brought a smile to his face) and numerous beloved family members and friends. The family would like to thank Eric Johnson for his loving care of both Sam and Jane during these last months.
Services for Sam will be held at 1pm on October 12 at Grace UMC. There will be an additional celebration of his life for friends and family at 4pm at the Club House at Seapath Marina, Wrightsville Beach later that day. The link for more information is https://samspicer.carrd.co
Instead of flowers, please consider a donation to Mission of Hope/Rotifunk at https://rotifunk.org P.O. Box 11103 Wilmington, NC 28404 or
Terry Benjey Foundation at https://www.terrybenjeybicyclingfoundation.org 4408 Wrightsville Ave, Wilmington, NC 28403 or the charity of your choice.
Condolences may be shared with the family at www.andrewsmortuary.com
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