u/intellord911

It’s been really hard. Like harder than I ever thought it would be. We had a tumultuous relationship, but the last 5 years we really worked on reconciliation and rebuilding. Colson is really helping me through this, he has so many songs talking about his dad and their relationship, which is similar in some ways to the one of me and my dad. I’ll be going to the Dallas show on Sunday and I plan on it being a joyous experience, probably with tears running down my face shouting along to every line. I can’t wait. Thank you Colson for the music you make. It is literally saving me right now.

My dad, Eric Winston Spooner, passed away on Saturday May 16, 2026, a month after he turned 69, or 39 for the 30th time as he told me on this birthday a month previous. His death was sudden and unexpected, becoming unresponsive to his fiancé at home in Rizal, Philippines, passing on to whatever is next a couple hours later in a hospital, from what is believed to have been a stroke. He had been living there since July of 2023, moving to be with the woman he loved.

Eric was born on April 16th, 1957 in Teaneck, New Jersey to John and Jane Egeln Spooner. Jane wanted to name him Richard, so they could call him Ricky, but John refused to have a son that might be called Dick Spooner. He was the middle child, His brother Byron being the eldest and his sister, Stacey, being the youngest. Eric was a energetic boy, and fondly recalled singing in the church and school choir, which started a life long love of music. Eric was a smart, charismatic, witty man, he rarely carried anything but a smile, and you could always tell he was near by the sound of his bellowing laughter, his friends recalled from their college years at Tulsa University. He was truly a force in social environments. Many have said that he was the smartest man they have ever met, his intelligence was a gift.

TU was also where Eric would go on to meet his future wife and and life long friend, Susan McDonald Spooner. The two ran in similar friend groups and eventually he got up the nerve to go to her dorm one night to call on her. They dated, and eventually thought to himself She’s The One. The two were in love and dated throughout college and Eric attending law school. Eric went on to graduate from TU law school, and Susan from her undergraduate, and there were married on May 7th, 1982. Eric practiced criminal defense and civil law privately for several years. Eric and Susan went on to start a family in Tulsa, raising two Eagle Scouts, Sean Garrett, born December 5th, 1984 and Colin Bruce, born December 19th, 1990.

Eric loved deeply. My brother Sean and I are so lucky that we had him as a father. From scout outings, coaching soccer, building models cars, cooking family dinners, and yearly trips to New Jersey to visit his sister and her family, he was a family man to the core. There was nothing more he loved than being a dad. But he wasn’t just a dad to me and my brother. No he also loved teaching, whether formally or informally. He was a soccer coach, and even went back to school and earned his teaching certificate, then went on to be a college professor, a substitute teacher, an elementary school special education teacher, and a middle school teacher at Tulsa Public Schools. The impact he had on the learning journal of hundreds if not thousands of his students is immense and immeasurable.

Eric loved trains, particularly steam engines of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. He spent many many hours driving the state of Oklahoma and beyond going to sit on the side of mainlines, waiting to get the perfect shot of a passing train, with his friend Walter and Brad. They were all members of the NMRA (National Model Railroad Association) and two would also go to model railroad expos and debate the minutiae of a color or certain feature being period correct or not. He had a deep passion for photography, it was hard to find Eric without his camera with him, day or Night, and he took pictures of everyone and everything he could. He love sports cars, particularly Lotus, and was an avid watcher of Formula 1 racing, he loved the Thunder Road of racing. He was a die hard Yankees fan. Eric loved politics, and pursued a PhD in Political Science from OU. Eric also loved animals, particularly cats, and had a special affinity for Russian Blues, who he said were the smartest of domestic cats. He also loved cinema comedy, and as previously mentioned music. He love watching Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, and other classic films with Charlie Chaplin and Le Mans with Steve McQueen. Eric loved to laugh, and comedy was a big part of his life. We’d stay up late watching specials from W.C. Fields, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Lewis Black, and watch classic comedy like Monty Python and later on South Park and Reno 911.

One my dad’s biggest loves was music. We’d go to Starship Records and Tapes, digging through dusty bins and picking up long forgotten bootlegs and work out records. He loved so much music, from the Clash, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, The Who(Who?), Frank Sinatra, Beethoven, Bach, Neil Young, The Ramones, Elvis Costello, Merle Haggard, Meatloaf, The Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, Tom Petty, Waylon Jennings, Led Zeppelin, Bob Seeger, the list could go on forever of music he loved. But I think more than any other artist, my dad loved Bruce Springsteen. The soundtrack of my childhood is the entire Born to Run album. He had copies on wax and CD, many times over. Whether it was driving around town with the top down in his Honda S-2000, with the vanity plate JRSY BOY, driving to New Jersey, cleaning the house, you name it, Born To Run was on. He loved The Boss. I will forever cherish the chance he had to go see The Boss on his Working on A Dream tour with me and my mom. He was truly a kid again, looking at merch, singing along with Bruce for 3 plus hours. Some even asked if my middle name was a tribute to the man, though Susan swears I was actually named after the founder of Lotus. Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman.

Later in life, Eric found love again, in the oddest of places, the Philippines. He met his fiancée, Marivic Maranda, affectionately known as Mavz, via Facebook. After getting to know each other over the internet, he eventually went to visit her for two weeks in the Philippines, and at that point decided to move there permanently. He enjoyed very much the past several years there, learning a new place, exploring the Backstreets and a new culture, and being in love with his Sweetie Pie, Mavz, he planned on marrying her and spending his life with her, and he lived there until his death.

Eric was an active member at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, where he and Susan raised Sean and Colin. Eric is preceded in death my his mother and father, John Oenslager Spooner and Jane Egeln Spooner, and son, Sean Garrett Spooner. He leaves behind his son, Colin Bruce Spooner, his friend and former wife Susan McDonald Spooner, Brother Byron Spooner, sister Stacey Spector, his nephew Jesse Spector, niece Kaylee Spector, and his Fiancée Mavz Spooner. I’m still at loss for how one truly sums up a life lived, but I hope this has given you a chance to know my father as I did. A great man, a Jersey Boy, who was Born to Run.

I have set up a some ways to help me and his fiancée, he was in the Philippines so I’m having to figure out cremation and getting him back to the states and services, etc. I know that’s not allowed here, but I Really just want to share how much Bruce meant to him, and how much he meant to me.