Stanford J. Spence

March 23, 1930 - September 26, 2014

SPENCE, J. Stanford, passed away on September 26, 2014, in Austin, Texas. Stan was born in Nogales, Arizona on March 23, 1930. He attended schools in Arizona, the New Mexico Military Institute and the University of Arizona. After he married and left college in 1950 he became the father of two daughters, Terry and Katherine. Stan entered into the business world and subsequently established companies in the cattle feeding, real estate, mortgage banking and insurance industries. In 1958, while on vacation in Acapulco, he met his forever partner, Diane and shortly thereafter they were married and began a loving partnership that lasted over half a century. Diane was always an important partner in all of Stan's business pursuits throughout the years. Diane passed away on April 12, 2011, in Austin, Texas. In 1973, he founded his last business venture and became the Chairman & CEO of Checkmate Electronics, Inc., after he conceived the technology and directed the development of the patented Point of Sale check readers and analyzers that dominated the POS, banking and check printing industries. After a l998 merger with a Canadian company, the combined companies became the largest supplier of Point of Sale payment terminals to large retail stores in North America. He remained as Chairman of the combined companies, IVI Checkmate, until his retirement in 2005. After his retirement, he and Diane continued extensive traveling to Europe, Asia and South America, but his primary pursuit was to engage in, as he said, "a good game of bad golf" at the Austin Country Club. His deceased parents were A.T. and Marcella Spence. His father and now deceased brother, Terrell, were prominent cattle ranchers in the Southwest. Stan is survived by his daughters, Terry Phelps of Cave Creek, Arizona and Katherine Lindsey of Burke, Virginia; grandson, Garrett Phelps of Annapolis, Maryland; sister-in- law, Ophelia Spence of Tucson, Arizona; niece, Valerie Dixon and her husband, Dan of Austin, Texas; nephew, John D. Spence and his wife, Amy of Tillamook, Oregon. After cremation in Austin, a Funeral Mass will be held in Tucson with burial at East Lawn Palms Cemetery. In lieu of flowers and usual remembrances, the family requests memorial contributions to be made to the Austin Aussie Rescue Society, P.O. Box 1678, Bastrop, Texas 78602