Dr. William C. Springer - 1930 - 2021
January 14, 2021
Dr. William (Bill) Springer, 90, passed away peacefully in January 2021 at his home in Leander, Texas after a heroic battle with cancer. He was surrounded by Solange, his devoted wife of 56 years and his loving daughters, Michèle, Angelique and Francine.
A true Renaissance Man, Bill was a great teacher, philosopher, storyteller, writer, linguist (fluent in 6 languages), political activist, skier, photographer, avid world traveler and sharp dresser. He was known by friends and family as the “smartest man in the room” and could quote interesting history and trivia about almost any subject or geographic location. He deeply loved his wife, children and grandchildren and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Bill was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico to Bert Springer, a truck driver, and Mary Gallegos Springer, a teacher and a homemaker. He had eight siblings. At thirteen, he left home and entered the Dominguez Seminary in Compton, CA where he pursued the priesthood and in due course received his B.A in Philosophy from Loyola University. In 1952 he moved to Rome and obtained a Master’s degree in both Theology and Philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He left the seminary without ordination and pursued various trades and traveled widely in Europe, South America and the Middle East. He then returned to academia and received a Doctorat de l’Universite under distinguished French philosopher Paul Ricoeur from the Sorbonne Université Paris, he then went on to get his Doctor of Philosophy at Rice University in Houston, TX.
Bill was a faculty member of the University of Texas at El Paso for 43 years and taught across the entire philosophical spectrum. After retiring, he taught as an adjunct professor at Austin Community College. As a Fulbright Scholar he taught, in Spanish, at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. Over the years, he authored many scholarly articles in peer-reviewed philosophical journals and translated, from French to English, the book, God in an Evolving Universe by Olivier Rabut. His primary philosophical focus was Existentialism and Ancient and Medieval philosophy. His interest over the last several years was attempting to reconcile an existential ontology with a robust emergence doctrine anchored in a Neo-Aristotelian notion of embodied soul. His book, This is my Body, published in 2009 was the outcome of that concentration. In 2020, he was named Honorary El Presidente of Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara (Fiesta).
Bill is survived by the love of his life Solange, a retired small business owner and entrepreneur, whom he met in Paris, France in 1963, they were married for 56 years. Bill is also survived by his oldest daughter Michèle Richards and her husband Matt of Scottsdale, AZ and their children; Carson, Landon (McKenzie), Elise (James) and Monique. His middle daughter, Angelique Davis and her husband Erik of Santa Barbara, CA. And by his youngest daughter Francine Tucker and her husband Jeff of Leander, TX and their daughters Shealyn and Juliene.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those who wish to express sympathy and honor Bill’s legacy make a donation to the “Dr. William Springer Scholarship for Philosophy” administered by the El Paso Community Foundation at https://epcf.org/springer Please use this link or you can mail a gift to the foundation and include "William Springer” in the memo so the gift is properly designated. A celebration of Bill’s extraordinary life will take place once it is safe to gather with friends and family.
Tax-deductible donations to the scholarship fund can be made online at https://epcf.org/springer or mailed to:
El Paso Community Foundation
P.O. Box 272
El Paso, Texas 79943
INCLUDE: "William Springer" in the memo line of your check
A true Renaissance Man, Bill was a great teacher, philosopher, storyteller, writer, linguist (fluent in 6 languages), political activist, skier, photographer, avid world traveler and sharp dresser. He was known by friends and family as the “smartest man in the room” and could quote interesting history and trivia about almost any subject or geographic location. He deeply loved his wife, children and grandchildren and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Bill was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico to Bert Springer, a truck driver, and Mary Gallegos Springer, a teacher and a homemaker. He had eight siblings. At thirteen, he left home and entered the Dominguez Seminary in Compton, CA where he pursued the priesthood and in due course received his B.A in Philosophy from Loyola University. In 1952 he moved to Rome and obtained a Master’s degree in both Theology and Philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He left the seminary without ordination and pursued various trades and traveled widely in Europe, South America and the Middle East. He then returned to academia and received a Doctorat de l’Universite under distinguished French philosopher Paul Ricoeur from the Sorbonne Université Paris, he then went on to get his Doctor of Philosophy at Rice University in Houston, TX.
Bill was a faculty member of the University of Texas at El Paso for 43 years and taught across the entire philosophical spectrum. After retiring, he taught as an adjunct professor at Austin Community College. As a Fulbright Scholar he taught, in Spanish, at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. Over the years, he authored many scholarly articles in peer-reviewed philosophical journals and translated, from French to English, the book, God in an Evolving Universe by Olivier Rabut. His primary philosophical focus was Existentialism and Ancient and Medieval philosophy. His interest over the last several years was attempting to reconcile an existential ontology with a robust emergence doctrine anchored in a Neo-Aristotelian notion of embodied soul. His book, This is my Body, published in 2009 was the outcome of that concentration. In 2020, he was named Honorary El Presidente of Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara (Fiesta).
Bill is survived by the love of his life Solange, a retired small business owner and entrepreneur, whom he met in Paris, France in 1963, they were married for 56 years. Bill is also survived by his oldest daughter Michèle Richards and her husband Matt of Scottsdale, AZ and their children; Carson, Landon (McKenzie), Elise (James) and Monique. His middle daughter, Angelique Davis and her husband Erik of Santa Barbara, CA. And by his youngest daughter Francine Tucker and her husband Jeff of Leander, TX and their daughters Shealyn and Juliene.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those who wish to express sympathy and honor Bill’s legacy make a donation to the “Dr. William Springer Scholarship for Philosophy” administered by the El Paso Community Foundation at https://epcf.org/springer Please use this link or you can mail a gift to the foundation and include "William Springer” in the memo so the gift is properly designated. A celebration of Bill’s extraordinary life will take place once it is safe to gather with friends and family.
Tax-deductible donations to the scholarship fund can be made online at https://epcf.org/springer or mailed to:
El Paso Community Foundation
P.O. Box 272
El Paso, Texas 79943
INCLUDE: "William Springer" in the memo line of your check