LeRoy B. Spurrier Jr., who trained paramedics and was a lifelong member of the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company, died of cancer Friday at his home in Westminster. He was 52.
Mr. Spurrier, who was raised in Reisterstown and spent most of his life in his family home there, joined the volunteer fire department as a teen-ager. He graduated from Franklin High School in 1969 and went to work at the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, where he became a paramedical training officer.
He spent two decades as a volunteer firefighter and paramedic. "That was his main passion," said his son, LeRoy B. Spurrier III of Abingdon.
He especially enjoyed working with a paramedic service that transported infants and critically ill children, his son said. In that capacity, Mr. Spurrier helped deliver a half-dozen babies.
The neonatal and pediatric transport program originated at the University of Maryland Medical Center and when it lost funding, Mr. Spurrier and several colleagues continued to offer the service as volunteers.
A back injury in the late 1980s forced him to retire from his work with paramedics. He spent several years selling cars and recreational vehicles and drove buses for Carroll County public schools and McDonogh School in Owings Mills.
He then worked with several local real estate agencies, most recently, Long and Foster Realtors in Westminster, where he lived for the past 11 years.
Mr. Spurrier and his wife of 31 years, the former Jane Ann Stevens, enjoyed riding their Honda Gold Wing motorcycle throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and in the Southwest. Mr. Spurrier was a member of the Westminster Gold Wing Club. He also enjoyed taking his family on annual trips to Nova Scotia and Florida in a motor home when his children were young.
A service will be held at 1 p.m. today at Eline Funeral Home, 11824 Reisterstown Road in Reisterstown.
In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Spurrier is survived by a daughter, Jennifer L. Harlan of Kent Island, and a brother, Mark G. Spurrier of Mount Airy.