Aloha Performing Arts Company

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience”
–Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Glenys Spitze, 5/20/1919 – 5/13/2008

Glenys Spitze was born in Rozel, Kansas at midnight on May 20t, 1917. She moved on into her next stage of existence on May 13th, 2008, just one week shy of her 89th birthday, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Glenys was a strong, loving woman with opinions, ideas and interests ranging from making sure the birds on the seawall outside the lanai on her condo had birdseed, to child psychology, to travel, the arts and environment and everything in between. She never stopped learning about and being deeply, passionately involved in the world around her, never hesitating to comment and learn more.

Through mutual friends in Kinsley, Kansas, she met LeRoy Spitze while she was living there as a young school teacher. They married on December 31, 1942, living in Winfield, KS, then San Jose and Morgan Hill, CA until LeRoy’s death in 1995. Glenys and LeRoy had traveled extensively following his retirement from San Jose State University, with the Kona coast a favorite destination and that’s where she decided to make her home. She lived in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii from 1997 on, where she made many friends and lived her life as she wished. Glenys spent the summer months every year in Woodland Park, Colorado, in the small cabin LeRoy and she built, literally with their own hands.

As the years passed, her five sons (Randy, Kevin, Kim, Terry and Shawn), sixteen grandchildren, her surviving sister and other family and friends felt she was a force of nature, someone who’d be around forever. Glenys loved walking to Kahalu’u Beach near her home to snorkel with the green sea turtles, or longer excursions to Two-Step Beach near the City of Refuge. She astounded everyone with her near-daily practice of swimming a mile – slow, but steady -- in the pool in the complex where she lived. In the end, though, time caught up with her as it must, and she was diagnosed with cancer in mid-2007. Knowing it was now only a matter of time intensified her desire to enjoy life to the fullest, and to share with her family and friends. A final farewell was held in Woodland Park in August of 2007, her last visit to a place she deeply loved. Glenys didn’t want a funeral held after she died; she wanted to be there, to enjoy the party, so a “Celebration of Life” brought family and friends together on a beautiful summer’s day in the Rockies, with Pike’s Peak joining in. It was a joyous, bittersweet gathering creating memories of her which will last forever.

Glenys was always active in the world around her, and in her memory, you are invited to make a donation to one (or more) or the organizations she supported:

Common Cause / Hawaii: She was a long-time member, and felt it is organizations such as Common Cause which can help make a positive difference in our country and the world. The national organization for Common Cause has created a webpage to enable donations to Common Cause / Hawaii, via the website, www.commoncause.org/spitze.

Aloha Performing Arts Center: Glenys loved the theatre and the arts in general, and this local group was a highlight of her life in Hawaii. Please make your donation to: APAC, PO Box 794, Kealakekua, HI 96750, with Glenys Spitze in the memo line to ensure it will be acknowledged as "In Memory of Glenys Spitze" on their donor lists. Donors will also receive a donation letter.

Kona Outdoor Circle: Glenys was a strong advocate of the environment and efforts to help bring about a smoke-free Hawaii; this group was another one of her favorites. As a branch of the statewide Outdoor Circle, KOC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations to KOC are fully tax-deductible. Checks can be made out to Kona Outdoor Circle and mailed to 76-6280 Kuakini Highway, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740.