Hugh C. Spalding passed away at Sacred Heart Village in Louisville on Sunday, April 21, 2014. He was 101. Born of Thomas and Elizabeth Mattingly Spalding in 1912 in St. Joseph, KY. Mr. Spalding (mostly known as "Mr. Hugh,") served as Marion County Superintendent of Schools from 1937 until 1975 (minus two years of military service during World War II, which he spent teaching a new technology, radar, to fighter pilots).

Mr. Spalding started his career in education as an 18-year-old high school graduate. His task was to teach grades one through eight at the Hagan School, a one room schoolhouse. He attended Western Kentucky State Teachers College during off semesters, and later got his Master's degree from the University of Kentucky by attending classes at night. At 21 he was named Supervisor for the Marion County Schools, and at 25 became Superintendent of the Marion County School System.

His life goal was to help Marion County's children get the best education possible. This goal meant hiring and encouraging the most talented teachers available and urging students to remain in school beyond the legally mandated minimum age. He facilitated racial integration, starting by integrating school buses and implementing the GI Bill for all veterans regardless of race, before Kentucky law allowed school integration.

His ambition for Marion County children meant consolidating multitudes of tiny one-room schools and very small high schools and combining the seperate Marion County and Lebanon school systems into one.

He built a state-of-the-art Marion County Vocational School, working always toward the dream of a large, new, well-equipped high school with teachers who knew their special subjects deeply. His dream came true in 1970 with the opening of Marion County High School.

His hobbies included raising flowers, traveling the country and the world. His other activities included community service, notably the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which he headed for decades. He was named "Dean of Kentucky School Superintendents" when he retired. The Hugh C. Spalding Academy is named in his honor.

Mr. Spalding is predeceased by his parents and siblings- Marion, Aaron, Felix, Theodore, Imogen, Rebecca, Kermit and William- and his wife of 68 years, Sara Bernadette Hill Spalding. He is survived by four daughters- Sarah Comi (Richard), Betsy Delmonico (Neal), Catherine Spalding (Marty Johnson), and Rose Spalding (Will Denton)- and one son, Hugh Spalding, plus twelve grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, April 25, 2014 at St. Augustine Catholic Church. Interment to follow in the church cemetery.

Visitations will be held after 5:00 p.m. Thursday at Bosley Funeral Home, with a prayer service to be held at 7:00 p.m.