William Henry Spanjer III

William Henry Spanjer III went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, while at home with his wife, daughter, and son at his side.  He was 86.

Bill was born on April 30, 1935, to Eleanor and Bill Spanjer Jr.. He grew up on his family farm in Branchville, NJ and graduated from Sussex High School.  Shortly after high school, Bill enlisted in the United States Marine Corps where he served as an assistant to Admiral Daspit aboard the USS Boston.  While in the Marine Corps, Bill was led to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by his friend Bob Hoppe to whom, he said, he was eternally indebted.  After his time in the Corps, Bill received his bachelor's degree from Nyack Missionary College and went on to pursue a career in aviation as a flight instructor and owner of his own flight school, Spanair, in Spring Valley, NY.

 In 1968, he married Kathleen Bartels and two years later they purchased a farm in Pine Bush, NY, their home to this day.  By the mid 70’s, Bill had fallen in love with farming and sold the flight school in order to pursue it full-time. After taking agri-business classes at Cornell, he began a cattle consulting business overseeing and managing farms all around the Northeast.   In 1979 however, as Kathy was pregnant with their fifth child, Bill had a transformative experience in his life after reading an epitaph on a pastor’s gravestone which read, “privileged to be entrusted with the gospel.”  It was there that he began to consider the true cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  From that point forward, he and Kathy viewed all of their possessions and resources through new eyes, seeing them as means by which to serve Christ.  They immediately took in a family of ten Laotian refugees, began hosting and supporting missionaries around the world, and started an outreach ministry called Affirmative Evangelism Fellowship (AEF,) ministering to inner city youth in the Bronx, Harlem, and Newark.  They started Bible studies for the “city kids” and ran summer camps to provide Biblical teaching and vocational training.  The kids dubbed them “Mom and Coach,” names that would stick to this day.  

In 1986, Mom and Coach began Chapel Field Christian School with 26 adventurous students attending.  They began building educational buildings on the land that once was their 150-acre farm with the hope of providing kids a thoroughly Christian education.  Through the vision of Coach and Mom and with the help of so many who sacrificed to make that vision a reality, the school has produced 35 graduating classes and has grown to a current enrollment of roughly 300 students.  Coach is remembered by his students for his captivating chapel messages, his fatherly counsel, and his patrolling of the campus in his John Deere Gator with his dog by his side.  He would go on to establish Matthew 25 Ministries, a global outreach organization through which alumni missionaries were supported, orphanages were established in Kenya, and homes were built for the destitute there. 

As a visionary leader, Coach could be a little rough around the edges at times and he knew it.  One of the last things he wrote was, “I am just a sinner saved by grace.”  He was however, a man used by God to impact innumerable lives in the Hudson Valley and around the world.  He was a husband, a father, a grandfather, a coach, a teacher, a principal, an author, a farmer, a pilot, and a marine, but most of all he was a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ whom he loved.  He leaves an enormous hole in the hearts of his family and community, but his kingdom vision will be carried on by those that survive him.  Coram Deo Coach!

He is survived by his wife Kathleen Spanjer, his son William Spanjer IV and wife Kristina, son Daniel and wife Tara, son Timothy and wife Vaughan, son Stephen and wife Laura, and his daughter Kristen, his honorary son Joseph Mwangi Maina and wife Ashley; his grandchildren, William (Andy), Jacob, Emma, Abby, Tommy, Meghan, Emily, Kaitlyn, Margo, Gabe, Camille, Elsie, Addie, and Will, his brother Rodger and wife Rachael, brother Lee and wife Jean Dennett, sister Christina and husband Scott Bates and his stepmother Olga Spanjer (age 106). He was predeceased by his infant daughter Katy Spanjer and Jaden Maina, son of Ashley and Joseph.

In lieu, of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Chapel Field Christian Schools, 211 Fleury Road, Pine Bush, NY 12566 ,  (chapelfield.org) or to Matthew 25 Ministries at AEFministries.org.

A funeral service will be held at Goodwill church in Montgomery, NY at 12pm on Saturday, January 29 with burial to follow, weather permitting.  The funeral service will be livestreamed.  A link to view the funeral will be made available the day of the service on Chapel Field’s website and social media. Any changes due to weather will be posted at chapelfield.org, on Chapel Field’s Facebook, and at millspaughfuneralhome.com.

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