Longtime Schools Director Ron Spencer Dead At 73

Longtime Schools Director Ron Spencer Dead At 73

Engineer Developed License Upgrading , 'Hands-On' Training For Union Members

Ronald R. Spencer, P.E. (right), photographed at AMO's training center in Dania Beach. Fla. with now-retired U.S. Rep. James Quillen, a Republican from Tennessee, during the Congressman's tour of the school.

      Ronald R. Spencer, the brilliant force behind the license upgrading and training programs in AMO for nearly 35 years, died in a South Florida hospital on April 3. He was 73.
     Spencer, an engineer who held AMO Union Book #S-88, was recruited by the late AMO President Raymond T. McKay to help establish a permanent, employer-funded training option for union members. Spencer developed original and raise-of-grade curricula and, in 1967, the District 2 MEBA School of Marine Engineering--operated by the Safety and Education Plan won by McKay in collective bargaining--opened under Spencer's direction on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, N.Y.
     As the school evolved and became the District 2 MEBA-AMO School of Marine Engineering and Navigation, Spencer broadened the training to include deep-sea and Great Lakes deck licenses, developed "hands-on" courses in specific skills, tailored courses to meet the needs of union members employed along inland waterways, and oversaw the school's expansion to a second site in Toledo, Oh.
     Spencer--"Spence," to his many friends in the union--supervised the school's move from Brooklyn to Dania Beach a decade ago and helped plan the construction of what are now AMO's Raymond T. McKay Center for Advanced Maritime Officers' Training and RTM Simulation, Training, Assessment, and Research Centers adjacent to AMO headquarters. He helped negotiate the purchase of bridge, engineroom, and radar simulator and technical support equipment for RTM STAR Centers in Dania Beach and Toledo.
     In 1995, Spencer was appointed director of special projects for CAMOT, STAR Center, and the union. In that role, Spencer served as a liaison to the U.S. Coast Guard and mapped the union's preparations for Standards of Training and Certification of Watchkeepers--STCW '95, the demanding worldwide training and proficiency requirements established under a convention of the International Maritime Organization in the United Nations.
     Spencer also analyzed government reports on maritime manpower and other issues and studied Requests For Proposals from the Navy's Military Sealift Command and the Maritime Administration in the Department of Transportation to anticipate new training needs to meet specific government ship operating charter requirements.
     In addition to his responsibilities at CAMOT/STAR Centers, Spencer was an AMO representative at IMO and STCW conferences and a union delegate to the International Labor Organization and the International Transport Workers' Federation, and he was active in Dania Beach and Broward County civic affairs.
     "Ron Spencer was the single greatest day-to-day influence over the course of AMO's training programs and their growth as the finest available for licensed seafaring professionals," said AMO National President Michael R. McKay. "He produced literally thousands of officers' licenses and helped countless individuals advance in our industry."
     McKay added: "Ron Spencer had a gift for technical detail and intricacy, and he knew domestic and international shipping laws, rules, and regulations like no one else--he read the Federal Register like most people read the morning newspaper, just to keep up with what the regulatory agencies were doing. He put in long days and never stopped working, and he did it all for the good of our union membership. We will always be grateful for Ron Spencer's lasting contributions to AMO."
     Spencer is survived by his wife, Lucille, his son, Douglas, and his daughter, Charlene.

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