Waukesha Pastor Dedicated Life to Youth, Impoverished Families

A Waukesha pastor who dedicated his life to making an impact on at-risk youth and the impoverished areas of our communities passed away on Tuesday at age 59.

The funeral service for Rev. Jerome Spencer will be held at noon Saturday at Fox River Christian Church following the 11 a.m. visitation.

Spencer, pastor of New Beginnings Christian Church, had previously been diagnosed with brain cancer. While battling the cancer, he worked hard to bring a special light to impoverished families each Christmas season.

“There’s nothing like seeing someone who didn’t know how they were going to have Christmas…and the tears just steam down their face,” Spencer told Patch in 2011. “There’s nothing like that.”

Spencer knew the hardship that families face. He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2008 that his brother had been killed by a stray bullet in Milwaukee. But still, Spencer worked with young people in Waukesha to help make a direct impact on their life. New Beginnings ran an aviation ministry to teach young people – some who have been in trouble in their short lives – to fly airplanes.

"Waukesha is one of the best places in the world to change your life if you really want to," Spencer told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We have wonderful services. It's a beautiful community. Good people."

While Spencer leaves a community in mourning, he also left behind an impact on those around him.

“He was a really good man who really cared about the kids,” Ben Oven wrote on Waukesha Patch.