Head and shoulders image of Roy A. Spencer, College of Engineering, 1921-1954.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Roy Aubrey Spencer was born in 1889 in Port Morien, Nova Scotia. He came to the University of Saskatchewan from Dalhousie University in 1921 and served as assistant professor of Civil Engineering. Dr. Spencer married Marguerita MacQuarrie in 1922 in Sydney, Nova Scotia. He was appointed dean of Engineering in 1944 and retired in 1953. He also served in the University Senate from 1942-1954. Roy Spencer died in 1967 in Saskatoon. Spencer Crescent, Lane, Place and Way in the Silverwood neighborhood are named for the Spencers.

Bio/Historical Note: Born into the large musical McQuarrie family of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in 1892, Marguerita (Rita) Spencer studied piano, organ and cello at Halifax Ladies’ College and at McGill University. From 1918-1921 she trained as a nurse at Toronto General Hospital. In 1922 Rita married Dr. Roy Spencer; they moved to Saskatoon, where he taught engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. During World War I she accompanied silent movies; she also played troop concerts then and during World War II. She continued her studies in Saskatoon under Helen Davies Sherry, Lyell Gustin, and others. She performed on a weekly CBC program and with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, and headed the Saskatoon Women’s Musical Club and the Musical Arts Club. Of Rita's nearly forty compositions, she is best known for Prairie Suite No. 1 and 24 Preludes; but many of them appeared on music festival programs and conservatory exams throughout Canada. Partly blind in old age, Rita used a tape recorder and transcriber. She received the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal and recognition in international music sources. Rita Spencer died in 1993 in Saskatoon at age 100.