Remembering a dedicated TV6 Canathon volunteer

NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLUC) - A special TV6 Canathon volunteer is no longer with us.

Tom Spencer of Negaunee died in August. If you have watched the TV6 Canathon wrap-up show before, Tom’s face is one you would see.

Tom and his wife Linda started collecting for the TV6 Canathon in the 1980s. They were super volunteers for the effort. Their son, Shane, says his parents wanted to give back.

“We started doing the TV6 Canathon in 1985 when I was five years old,” Shane Spencer said. “The main reason is the community helped my family out, big time, when I was burned in ‘81.”

Tom and Linda were first involved through the United Steelworkers at Cliffs. Tom was very hands-on with the annual collections that took place in the schools on the west end of Marquette County for over 20 years until this year.

Tom and Linda were a fixture at TV6 when we had our wrap-up program.

“A lot of his good friends and coworkers would be here helping out also, and pretty much made the blowing snow and harsh weather more tolerable,” said Shane.

Tom would show up early and coordinate all donations being dropped off. Linda would help weigh food. They never missed a Canathon for at least 20 years. Shane has followed in their footsteps.

“We were pretty much to a point that we didn’t have to say any words when we were doing any projects,” said Shane. “We pretty much knew each other’s next move.”

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