Written by Stephanie Gordon
Shane Spahr, ’92, epitomizes a Hillsdalian. Born and raised in Hillsdale, Shane appreciates the tight-knit community that helped shape him into the person he is today. Growing up in the heart of town, Shane attended Bailey Elementary School, Davis Middle School, and Hillsdale High School. It was the Bernard L. Davis Scholarship that made his Hillsdale College experience possible.
“The Davis Scholarship winner isn’t announced until senior night,” Shane recalled. “I thought I’d end up joining the Marines. When I received the scholarship, I was so grateful. I was the first in my immediate family to go to college and earn a degree.”
Coming from a family of classroom and gymnasium teachers in the Hillsdale community, the health and physical education major knew he eventually wanted to become a physical education teacher. Shane’s academic advisor, Bill Lundberg, was instrumental during Shane’s time at Hillsdale College. “I had a number of different counselors through the years, but he stuck with me and gave me great guidance,” said Shane. “Bill was very academically driven and challenged his students. I still enjoy seeing him on campus today.”
After his first semester at Hillsdale, Shane struggled with his schedule. “I was doing too many things: rushing a fraternity, playing baseball, and working multiple jobs,” he said. “I like to think that time was an academic awakening. I refined my schedule and ended up working second shift, full time, at Hillsdale Tool to cover the rest of my expenses.”
The flexibility between school and work was crucial for Shane. He would go to class on his lunch break and “made it work.” Before graduation, Shane said “there was some kind of calling.” He did substitute teaching in the local schools since full-time teaching positions were very scarce at the time. “I know that’s hard to believe. I just felt a yearning to do something different, so I enlisted in the Air Force.”
Shane served for four years in the Air Force, working as a bioenvironmental engineering technician. He also met his wife Jenny, an Air Force nurse, at the end of his enlistment. The couple married in 2000.
Two years later, the couple welcomed their daughter Shannon, ’24, at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Soon after Shannon’s birth, Jenny went on to get her master’s degree to become a pediatric nurse practitioner.
When the couple welcomed their son Garrett, the Spahrs wanted to make sure one parent was home with the children, especially with the off-chance of deployment. “I stayed home with the children for the better part of 23 years while Jenny worked,” said Shane. “My teaching background came in very handy while I stayed home with the kids. I was asked to go on every field trip, I subbed at various schools on a frequent basis, and I even helped with an after-school program.”
According to Shane, the finish line for most military officers is 20 years of service because retirement is guaranteed. “Our children were in high school and we were stationed at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs,” said Shane. “Jenny had obtained her doctorate degree, so we asked ourselves what was next. It was Hillsdale or Texas.”
With Shane being an outdoorsman, land was important. “The affordability of land in Hillsdale was much better than in Texas,” Shane said. “We found 40 acres just outside of town, so we headed home to Hillsdale.”
What Shane did not expect upon returning to Hillsdale was working with Hillsdale’s senior community at Perennial Park Fitness Center. “I was an exercise physiologist for the United States Department of the Air Force, but I was working with active-duty troops,” Shane said. When the opportunity arose for him to lead the Fitness Center, he took on the health and wellness coordinator position.
His main goal is to keep the seniors healthy, active, engaged, and connected to their community. Shane said he is sure to research and offer the best fitness programs for his seniors like Silver Sneakers, yoga, and cardio drumming. “I make sure my older generations stay active, but I also need to stimulate the younger crowd because there’s a big wave coming in,” said Shane. “We’ve offered higher-intensity classes to engage young people. Really, this is a multigenerational fitness facility. Keeping the older population connected to the younger population is important so they don’t feel isolated.”
As far as Shane’s family, his daughter graduated from Hillsdale High School in 2020 and was also awarded the Bernard L. Davis Scholarship. She graduated from the College in 2024 with a degree in biology. She is currently a dental student at Marquette University and is married to Jack Golden, ’22. His son is studying engineering at Trine University in Indiana.
Shane and Jenny enjoy the slower pace of life in Hillsdale and plan to retire here. They are looking forward to the future with their adult children. “Our feet are firmly planted here,” said Shane. “It’s a small community, but it’s shaped me and offers so much.”
Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of Virtue and Valor: The Official Blog of Hillsdale College. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children – Eloise, Flora, and Jack. When she has a spare moment, she enjoys paleo baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, and breaking a sweat at the gym.
Published in February 2025
