William “Bill” Spangenberg passed away on July 7, 2026 at the age of 80 following a sudden illness.
Bill grew up in the Slate Belt of Pennsylvania, graduating from Bangor High School in 1964. He studied physics at Gettysburg College, graduating in 1968. He served in the Army Reserves, but as a Humanist with a lifelong commitment to pacifism, he turned to a doctoral program at the University of Colorado-Boulder to continue working in the physical sciences and, most importantly, the power of the possible.
His final doctoral work took him to Los Alamos National Lab in 1972. He became a computer scientist in the newly burgeoning field, and retired in 2003 after working 31 colorful years enmeshed in the science of the Cold War, then in the drawdown of the U.S. nuclear arsenal following the thaw.
Retirement was spent in the Texas Hill Country, first in Fredericksburg then in Georgetown, where he and his second wife Jean bred English bulldogs and traveled the world, enjoying excursions to China, Australia, and the Rhine River Valley.
Bill—a devoted Democrat from his first crank of the voting booth lever—became an Elections Clerk for both Gillespie and Williamson Counties, where he loved working the early voting days every election.
Bill’s children, Elena and Thomas, inherited his passions for music (all kinds), history, Star Trek, strategy gaming, the outdoors and environmental causes, and trains (from N-gauge to Amtrak).
In honor of his memory, please consider giving to an organization that supports the environment and this wonderful planet he wanted so much to protect, and please VOTE in your next election.