William Harold Spetter

William "Bill" Spetter, 78, of Eastland, passed away Tuesday afternoon, March 3, in Eastland after a long illness.

A private memorial will be held by the family at a later date. Local arrangements are under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home of Eastland.

Bill Spetter was born and grew up in Wichita, Kansas, graduating from high school in 1965. He joined the U.S. Army and served in Germany and South Korea. Reaching the rank of Master Sergeant, he was an expert in radar repair, logistics, and computer technology. His final 3-year assignment in South Korea was as Land Combat / Air Defense Systems Maintenance Chief, where he supervised 300 people. He retired from Ft. Bliss, El Paso, in 1989.

He then spent 10 years as a defense contractor. One of his last accomplishments was designing an on-demand hot water / cold water truck for soldiers who had complained of water trucks offering only hot water in the Arabian deserts. The first protoype was sent by President Clinton to soldiers in Bosnia to cheer them up after their stays were extended.

On March 5, 1998, he married Linda Kinsey Adams and moved to Shimonoseki, Japan, where she was a university professor. He did much volunteer work there, serving as a substitute high school English teacher and helping local groups learn English. One group which he dubbed the "Cackle Club," a name the group immediately adopted for themselves, met with him weekly for more than 10 years to practice English, leading to lifelong friendships. He was also a member of the Scrabble Club in Shimonoseki.

For 10 years, Bill Spetter and his wife coached Customs Agents of the Moji Region in Japan in speech and debate contests. The Moji team dominated annual contests held among nine Customs regions in Japan, including the Tokyo and Osaka regions. The Japanese Government honored the Spetters in a special ceremony on Nov. 26, 2004. They were presented a plaque, "The Award for Contribution to Customs Administration" by the Director General of Customs, Hiroshi Tominaga, Ministry of Finance. They were also given a certificate which stated, "In sincere recognition of your deep understanding and cooperation with the Japan Customs administration resulting in outstanding contributions toward the effective operation of Moji Customs."

Afterwards, Bill was honored with what he always called the thrill of a lifetime, when he and his wife were given a ride on a high-speed police boat with seven kinds of radar up and down the Straits of Shimonoseki, the waters which separate the main islands of Honshu and Kyushu in Japan.

The Spetters were in Japan for 17 years. Bill began to lose his eyesight due to a disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa, in which the retina slowly deteriorates. While taking stick training for the blind, it was discovered that he had Parkinson's Disease when he could not handle the stick. The Spetters returned to Texas for his medical care in 2013.

Mr. Spetter is survived by his wife, Linda of Eastland; a son, Kevin Spetter of New Mexico (wife Adriana Renata); a daughter, Debbie Blasi Walker of Colorado; and a son-in-law, Jayson Kendrick of Washington. Jayson's wife, Kristie Kendrick, Bill's daughter, passed away in 2000 during a heart transplant. Bill also has 3 grandchildren, Michael Spetter, Colby Stanley, and Jacob Walker; and 6 great-grandchildren. Close relatives include his sisters-in-law, Gayle Settles of Eastland and Karyl Kinsey of Austin, brother-in-law Jim Tom Polk of Austin, and late brother-in-law Tony Kinsey, who lived with the Spetters for six years until his death from kidney disease on Nov. 10, 2025.