Irwin L. Spector

                   -A Life Well Lived That Touched Many In The World-

Irwin Leonard Spector, born April 22, 1925, in Jersey City, New Jersey, passed away peacefully at home on August 28, 2026, at the age of 101. He is survived by his brother, Sanford Spector; his sister, Barbara Certner; his children, Leslie Varkonyi and her husband Irvin, Jason Spector and his partner Hallie Hall, and Jeffrey Spector and his wife Karen; his three grandchildren, Julie Begani, Peter Varkonyi, and Lauren Vaughn; and his six great-grandchildren, Ben, Joe, and Edina Begani, Ari and Miriam Varkonyi, and Casen Vaughn. He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 60 years, Edna Spector; his parents, Ben and Sadie Spector; and his sister, Anita Malzberg. A military honors graveside service will be held at South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth, Florida.

Irwin’s life literally touched tens of thousands of lives, if not more, through his decades in higher education teaching and executive administration. He will be missed by all that knew him directly and by those lives that were indirectly shaped and allowed to prosper by his actions.

A graduate of St. Peter’s University (Bachelor of Science), St. John’s University (Army Specialized Engineering), Columbia University-Teachers College (Master of Arts), and Arizona State University (Doctor of Education), Irwin lived in Arizona for 50 years before retiring to Boynton Beach, Florida in 2001 and later moving to Tampa, Florida in 2015.

In 1942 Irwin Spector was a senior in high school when Uncle Sam administered IQ/aptitude tests for a new program called Army Specialized Training. Irwin passed and was sent to basic training in Ft. Benning, Georgia for 16 weeks and then to St. John’s University in Brooklyn, NY to study engineering.

In early 1944, the government ended the engineering program for the war. Irwin and thousands of other young men were sent to Louisiana for six weeks. It was at this time Irwin’s Company G within the 290th Infantry of the U.S. Army’s 75th Division was formed. They lived in the woods practicing how to follow commands and play war games. He never had a chance to bathe during that time.

The division then was sent to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky before boarding the USS Brazil in New York headed for Wales. Formerly a cruise ship, it was converted to a troop ship with only hammocks for sleeping. Irwin slept on deck to handle his seasickness.

In mid-December 1944 the division crossed the English Channel to join the Allied forces. The Allies, seeing the build-up of Germans along the Western Front, rushed the new recruits to the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, which was a bulge in the western front; hence the name Battle of the Bulge. It was the most significant battle after D-Day at Normandy.

The weather was harsh with eight inches of snow on the ground and an average temperature of 20° F. Because of these conditions, the Air Force was unable to fly or resupply the troops. In these conditions Irwin's company dug rows of foxholes. The German tanks were closing in on these foxholes, but the weather made it difficult to see them. The new troops were told if they heard Germans to aim in that direction. There were explosions throughout the night of their arrival and when morning came, several tanks were out of commission and many of Irwin’s fellow soldiers had perished.

Due to the extreme weather conditions, Irwin's feet became numb with frostbite after a few days of combat. He was evacuated to England for medical care and then returned to the States on a hospital ship.

Irwin’s higher-education career began in the 1940s and 1950s as a college professor teaching chemistry and physics. Later in the 1950s through 1970s, Irwin was instrumental in the initial development and multi-campus expansion of Arizona two-year junior colleges in both Phoenix (Maricopa County Community College District) and Tucson (Pima Community College District). He ascended through the college administrative ranks from registrar, dean of instruction, director of research/curriculum, vice president and eventually college president. During his time in Phoenix he founded Maricopa Technical College, providing affordable health and IT career training to adults and young people. Irwin worked with Arizona legislatures to provide an economical funding formula for community college education. In 1971, Irwin testified before the United States Senate committee on advancement of community college education and career training. Upon retirement, Irwin returned to his first education love – the classroom – and enjoyed teaching accounting and statistics to college students.

Irwin was a huge fan of University of Arizona basketball and football along with an equally strong passion for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. He was the consummate sports analyst evaluating halftime results, coaching play adjustments, and post-game commentary!

Irwin overcame incredible odds surviving a premature birth on the eve of the Great Depression, and later as an infantry soldier in a freezing cold WWII foxhole. He took a chance to move out west in the 1950s to pursue a career developing a fledgling college. Irwin witnessed a world reinvented countless times at an ever-accelerating pace. Room-sized computers and punch cards for college administration were replaced by PCs, and his trusty slide rule and watch were reimagined into calculators and smart phones. He was fascinated by the opportunity that technology afforded everyone. Even at 101 with low vision, “Hey Google” was Irwin’s favorite phone command as he interacted with AI to control his home’s lights and ask countless probing questions on sports, politics, and world events. Continuous education and learning were always paramount in his life.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to:

Hadassah https://donate.hadassah.org/secure/donate-hadassah

Suncoast Hospice Foundation https://suncoasthospiceofhillsborough.org/donate/

National Kidney Foundation https://www.kidney.org/

American Cancer Society https://American Cancer Society/

American Diabetes Association https://American Diabetes Association/

Condolences for the family can be left in the guestbook below.

Heritage Funeral Care, David and Steven Gross Directors, Largo Florida is serving the family.