Thomas Robert Sprenger
Dr. Thomas Robert Sprenger, 89, of Bradenton and Holmes Beach, died May 29. He was born Aug. 22, 1931, in Seymour, Indiana, to Robert Daniel and Margaret Myron.
The family moved in 1934 to Paintsville, Kentucky, and in 1936 to Ashland, Kentucky. He was baptized in the First Baptist Church in Ashland.
He was a 1949 graduate of Ashland High School, attended Marshall University and received his medical doctorate degree in 1956 from Indiana University. That year he married Justine Gambill Stinson. They lived in Indianapolis during his postgraduate training and New Orleans and Tampa prior to starting a practice in 1961 in Bradenton.
Dr. Sprenger was a founder of Blake Medical Center, served as chief of staff at Manatee Memorial Hospital and as chairman of Blake. He retired from surgical practice in 1998.
He was a member of many medical and surgical associations, including the American College of Surgeons, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the International College of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. He was a charter member of the Eastern Orthopaedic Association and the Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons. He served many committees of the Florida Orthopaedic Society and was president 1989-90 and journal editor 1999-2002. He also served the Pittsburgh Pirates 1969-87 during spring training.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Indiana Army National Guard in 1956 and retired in 1991 as Brigadier General of the Line in the Florida Army National Guard. He completed the Command and General Staff College, Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Army War College. He proposed a hearing conservation program for use on the firing ranges that was put in use prior to the one instituted in the active Army.
He was elected 1967-71 to the Manatee County School Board, serving as chair 1967-68. He was active starting in 1969 in the Hernando de Soto Historical Society, including as general chair, president and Hernando de Soto and was awarded an honorary life membership. He also was a founding director of Community Bank of Manatee. His hobbies included the violin, photography and military history.
Dr. Sprenger was proud of his formative years in Eastern Kentucky and jokingly called himself an “Appalachian American.” He was elected to membership in the Order of Kentucky Colonels in 1982.
He and Justine became members in 1962 of Palma Sola Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon and an elder. He helped publish a 50th anniversary booklet for the church in 2007.
Justine, his wife of 52 years, predeceased him as did Carole, his wife of eight years.
Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, with a memorial service at 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 9, at Palma Sola Presbyterian Church, 6510 Third Ave. W., Bradenton. A celebration of life will follow the service at the Bradenton Country Club, 4646 Ninth Ave. W., Bradenton.
Private family internment will take place June 10 at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell. Memorial donations may be made to Palma Sola Presbyterian Church, 6510 Third Ave. W., Bradenton, FL 34209, or Sarasota Orchestra, 709 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236.
The memorial service will be streamed live starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 9, on the Palma Sola Presbyterian Church YouTube channel.
Arrangements were by Shannon Funeral Homes. Condolences may be made at www.shannonfuneralhomes.com
Survivors include daughter Rebecca and husband Mitchel Belis of Bradenton; son Michael and wife Lynne and their children, Jacob, Sophia and Nathan of Valrico; nephew Shawn May and wife Anna Jo of Ashland; and niece Kimberly May Vazquez and husband Ben of Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
Camille Valley
Camille Valley, 83, long-term resident of Anna Maria Island Club condominiums in Holmes Beach, died May 17.
She was born Aug. 15, 1937, in Huntington, Indiana, to Xen and Wanda Pence, also long-term residents of Anna Maria Island.
After two previous marriages, she remarried in 1998 to Wiley Valley, the love of her life.
Her greatest joy came from wandering the beaches of Anna Maria, collecting seashells. She was well loved by her family and friends and will be forever missed.
Mrs. Valley is survived by her children, Mark, Mike, Laurel and Wade, as well as two grandchildren, Stephen and Christopher.