Reverend Doctor Philip Sidney "Sid" Spain
Marriages
Robyn (Barnes) Spain - November 1996
Obituaries
Vail Daily page A8 - July 5, 2022
A memorial service for Sid will be held Saturday July 9, 2022, 11:00 am at the United Methodist Church of Eagle Valley, 333 E. 2nd St, Eagle, Colorado; lunch to follow. Live stream – visit our website: http://www.umcofeaglevalley.org
All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. 100% of donations reach mission projects and ministry: https://umcmission.org/give
Questions: careteam@umcofeaglevalley.org
Vail Daily page A7 - June 23, 2022
Sid was born in Kosciusko, MS to Verna Lois Jones Spain and David Sidney Spain. His father was a Warrant Officer in the Army Air Corp/Air Force which led to Sid, his brother Jim, and sister Pam growing up around the United States and Germany. Sid was fortunate enough to attend high school in Wiesbaden, Germany on the Air Force Base. Here he made many lifelong friends who he stayed in close touch with. Sid and his wife Robyn treasured these reunions.
After graduation, he attended Southern Methodist University and majored in English. In his senior year Sid was the student body president and thought politics was in his future. In 1968 he graduated from college and attended law school at SMU for about 2 weeks. He realized he wanted to have fun, not a law degree. Sid and two of his buddies split town and headed to Aspen, Colorado. He lived in nearby Basalt and worked at Snowmass. During this period of time there was a draft – Vietnam. The Air Force ROTC, which Sid participated in while in college, found out he was in Colorado and gave him one option – join the Air Force as an officer NOW! It was during the next four years in the Air Force where Sid found God.
After he did his time in the military service he went back to SMU and entered Perkins Seminary. He was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Conference in Texas. Then a few years later Sid decided he needed more adventure and joined the Navy as a Chaplain. While in the Navy he was stationed on the west and east coast as well as Scotland, Naples, Bahrain, Naval Air Facility Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory. Diego Garcia is where Sid met his wonderful wife, Robyn Barnes Spain who was the aviation maintenance officer. They fell madly in love and married in November 1996. Both were transferred to San Diego. In January 1999 they had a beautiful son, Dennis 'Denny'.
Sid and Robyn both finished their careers in the Navy and retired. They moved to Colorado to help take care of Robyn's parents. Sid was offered a temporary position as senior Pastor at the United Methodist Church of Eagle Valley. This temporary position lasted 13 years. Sid loved working at this small church in Eagle. Both the Bishop in Denver and the Bishop in Texas, his friend Mike tried to persuade him to take on a large church but Sid knew he was where God wanted him to be. It was important to Sid that Denny grow up in Eagle, where people look out for one another.
Sid served the Eagle community in many ways including on the board of The United Way and as part of the Eagle Rotary. At the United Methodist Church of Eagle Valley he established the Simple Supper, where everyone is welcome no matter beliefs or background. This community dinner has been served every Monday night since 2008. People in the valley knew if someone needed a place to stay or money for gas, to send them to Sid at the UMC. Sid had an incredible gift of homily and contributed greatly to the spiritual development of many lives both in and out of the church. He was beloved by the children of the congregation and of the preschool that was a part of the church for many years.
After Sid retired from the church in July of 2020, his family decided to stay in Eagle. Sid, who never smoked, was diagnosed with lung cancer. He received excellent care from the Valley View Callaway Cancer center for 2 ½ years. Sid is survived by his wife Robyn; son Dennis; brother Jim; sister Pam; aunt Bonnie; daughters Jessica, Melissa, and Abigail; and grandchildren Drew, Mary Bess, James and Joseph.
A memorial service for Sid will be held at the United Methodist Church of Eagle Valley July 9, 2022 at 11:00 with lunch to follow. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. 100% of donations reach mission projects and ministry: https://umcmission.org/give.
