Spencer, 34, 'a star who burned out too quickly'
By Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News
December 20, 2004

When it came to business, Carson Spencer believed he could accomplish anything.

While in college, he sold encyclopedias door to door. He would drive as many as four hours a day each summer, persuading young parents to make an investment in their children's future.

It was a challenge the ambitious entrepreneur not only met, but exceeded. Before long he was setting up satellite offices, training staff and selling enough sets to earn his team trips to Italy and Hawaii.

"I thought, 'If he could pull the encyclopedia thing off, he could do anything,' " said his father, Robert Spencer.

In recent years, the young businessman had set his sights on another formidable goal: starting a venture designed to address the problem of the nation's uninsured working population.

But Mr. Spencer's long battle with manic depression prevented him from fulfilling that dream. On Dec. 7, he took his own life. He was 34.

"This is a devastating illness and one which our society continues to stigmatize, which interfered with Carson pro-actively managing the disease properly," explained Mr. Spencer's wife, Heather.

Born and raised in Glastonbury, Conn., Mr. Spencer was an enterprising, athletic kid who spent much of his time skiing and playing soccer, lacrosse and hockey. But his entrepreneurial side also took root early.

At 12, he was delivering a weekly shopping guide to a territory that included 100 homes. At 15, he landed a job at a restaurant washing dishes. Within two weeks, he had talked his way into a busboy position.

The next year, still too young to wait tables, but armed with a driver's license, Mr. Spencer focused on getting a job at neighboring Hartford's finest restaurant.

"He went over, came back and said, 'I'm starting tonight as a busboy,' " recalled his father. "We would jokingly say that the next week he was going to be the general manager and the week after that, he'd be franchising it."

After graduating from prep school, Mr. Spencer attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he majored in economics. And thanks to his experience selling encyclopedias, Mr. Spencer had job offers before he even completed his degree.

He joined Sun Life in Atlanta after graduation, and quickly become a sales star. The company eventually dispatched him to Denver to open a new office - one of the youngest staff members assigned such a task.

"I never knew him to not achieve a goal he set," said Bob Powers, a friend and colleague. "He was by far, the best businessman I ever met."

In 1999, Mr. Spencer and a Sun Life colleague created Beacon Risk Strategies, which provides catastrophic insurance coverage for companies that self-insure their health plans. The thriving firm (which Robert Spencer says was started with a $1,000 investment by its founders) now has offices in Denver, Boston and Seattle.

In Mr. Spencer's last year, he established US Health, which arranged contracts between employers and health care providers in a way that would benefit previously uninsured workers. "He wanted this to be his legacy," said Heather Spencer.

Mr. Spencer's friends and family also say he was never too busy to reach out and help nurture the careers of others. "One of the things he enjoyed most in the sales area was seeing the people around him succeed," Powers said.

Charming and good-looking, Powers said Mr. Spencer made friends easily. But the salesman still had a difficult time securing a first date with his wife, whom he met in Atlanta. Mr. Spencer called several times before she finally gave in.

"On the fourth call, he said, 'OK, I'm putting my manhood on the line,' " laughed Heather Spencer.

They married in 1998 and she says her husband remained a hopeless romantic. For their first anniversary, Mr. Spencer surprised his wife with a hot-air balloon ride. When she became pregnant with their now nearly 3-year-old daughter, her husband found out the baby's gender first, revealing the sex on Christmas Day by presenting a new car filled with pink balloons.

But when it comes to describing her husband's short life, Heather Spencer reaches for her mother's words rather than her own: "She said he was a star who shone so brightly that he just burned out too quickly."

In addition to his wife, Mr. Spencer is survived by his daughter, Kaija Spencer; his parents, Robert T. and Joyce J. Spencer, of Westminster; and sister, Dr. Sally Spencer- Thomas, of Conifer.

Donations can be made to Kaija's education fund. Checks should be made payable to CollegeInvest, No. 514044563-01, and mailed to Mrs. Heather B. Spencer, 3482 W. 109th Circle, Westminster, CO 80031-6815.