AYER — Richard R. Spaulding, Jr., 42, of Sandy Pond Road, died unexpectedly Thursday, March 25, at his residence.
Mr. Spaulding was born in Groton on Oct. 7, 1967, a son of Marla Gale and the late Richard R. Spaulding Sr. and resided in Ayer and Shirley for much of his life. He was a 1987 graduate of Nashoba Valley Technical High School in Westford where he studied auto body repair.
He leaves his wife with whom he has been with since 1986, Krystal L. (Salter) Spaulding; his mother Marla Gale and her longtime companion Warren Prescott of Florence; his brother, John Spaulding of Groton; two sisters, Tammy Spaulding of Devens and Deanna Seaton of Springfield. He also leaves his paternal grandfather, Robert Spaulding of Shirley; his maternal grandmother, Patricia Gale of Gardner; his mother in law and her husband, Irene and Robert Friedrich of Ayer, his father in law and his companion, David Salter and Sheela Smith of Ayer, several aunts and uncles including Joanne and Jim Gravell of Greenville, N.H., Robert and Elaine Spaulding of West Virginia and Susan Ashcroft of Ormond Beach, Fla., Anne and Robert Fini of Templeton, Alan and Debbie Gale of North Carolina, Steve and Dotty Gale of Lunenburg, Robert Gale and his companion, Mary Joyce of Fitchburg.
He also leaves several cousins, nieces, nephews and many friends. He was the brother of the late Angel Arslan.
For the past several years Mr. Spaulding worked as an auto-body technician at KTR Racing in Ayer. Prior to that he was a substance abuse counselor in Billerica and in Littleton.
He was an accomplished artist and enjoyed fishing.
A visitation period was held on Monday, March 29, at the T.J. Anderson & Son Funeral Home in Ayer. There was a private burial at Center Cemetery in Shirley.
