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Richard Carl Spangler MAT ’65

A picture of Richard Spangler

Richard Carl Spangler MAT ’65, May 2, 2015, in Tacoma, Washington, from ALS. Dick grew up in West Seattle and served in the navy during the Korean War. Following the war, he enrolled at Seattle Pacific College, where he met Margaret Wubbena in a math class; they married and raised three children. Dick earned a master’s degree in education from Seattle Pacific and an MAT with a focus on teaching math from Reed. He taught math in elementary and junior high schools and community colleges in Washington, where he initiated the first community college math learning center in the state. He also created a mathematics-learning lab (now MARC) at Tacoma Community College, where he served as head of developmental education and also was active in literacy associations. Dick worked as a consultant and reviewer for major publishing houses and wrote 22 books on mathematics, which have been used in classrooms across the United States. He retired in 1993 and enjoyed travels with Margaret to many destinations abroad. In reporting his death to the college, Margaret wrote that Dick felt that Reed had opened the door for furthering his love of individualized instruction for students of mathematics. Dick’s love of mathematics was also shared by his daughter and two sons, who survive him, as do his four grandchildren.

Appeared in Reed magazine: September 2015