HELENA — A man who touched hundreds of lives is being celebrated at one of the places he loved most.
The Holter Museum of Art halls are filled with a fraction of the over 10,000 books owned and read by David Spencer.
"People came to the Holter to visit him, and they happened to stumble into the art museum," said Christina Barbachano, the Holter Museum of Art executive director.
David was part of the Holter for over three decades, both volunteering and as an employee.
Most recently, he ran the front desk on weekends.
You may have seen him in downtown Helena wearing a knitted cap and carrying two big bags filled with books.
Barbachano said, "We originally planned to have today be his retirement party."
David passed away at 76 in November on World Kindness Day.
He was at home among his beloved books.
"He always recommended something that I needed to read at that moment, which was incredibly intuitive of him," said Sara Glatz.
She works at Aunt Bonnie's Books and Gifts, a frequent stop for David.
Glatz said, "If you asked him about a book, he would go get it, and he would show me the page that I was asking about. He'd point to the paragraph."
Those who attended the celebration of life could look through some of David's book collection and take a few books home to fill their bookshelves.
However, with him gone, many feel an empty space.
"For so many years, he did the same things and went to the same places. I feel like there's just this vacuum now where he was," said Glatz.
The Holter will run David's Bookstore at the museum from February 4th to the 25th to find new homes for his novels while raising funds for his end-of-life expenses.
