Michael R. Spencer, 69, Plover, died Monday, July 24, 2017, at Aspirus Wausau Hospital after a courageous battle with cancer.

Mike was born Sept. 1, 1947, in Antigo, to Clarence and Shirley (Drake) Spencer. He graduated from P.J. Jacobs High School in 1965. He attended one of the first EMT training programs in the nation in 1974. He earned an associate’s degree in paramedics in 1998.

He was married to Colleen (Mayer) on Oct. 5, 1985, in Door County.

He started out working as an orderly at St. Michael’s Hospital in the Emergency Room. He was then employed by the Stevens Point Fire Department, starting out as an EMT, primarily ran ambulance; was promoted to lieutenant then captain and retired in 2004. He served as chief deputy coroner from 1981 until 2002.

He was also on the committee to establish the Stockton Fire Department and was chief of the Stockton Fire Department from 2005 until 2015. He was an EMS Instructor at Mid-State Technical College.

In his free time, he enjoyed anything that had to do with the outdoors, such as golfing, his hunting trips to South Dakota and his fishing trips to The Boundary Waters in Ontario, Canada. He also enjoyed spending time with his family, cooking, and adored his Labrador Retrievers. In recent years, “Papa Mike” loved spending time with his little buddy, Lukie. He was also a member of Ducks Unlimited.

He is survived by wife, Colleen, Plover; sons, Jordan, Plover, and Jeremy (Brittany), Stevens Point; mother, Shirley Spencer, Plover; and sisters, Lynn (Bill) Stanton, Unity, and Leslie (Carl) Schramm, Waupaca.

He was preceded in death by his father, Clarence.

Visitation will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at Boston Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held during the visitation at 6 p.m. with Rev. David E. Ficken presiding.

The family would like to give a special thank you to Dr. Kirschling and his staff at the UW Cancer Center for the wonderful care that was given.