R. Spencer Garrard was born in Columbus on September 23, 1947. His parents were natives of Columbus. His family has been in Columbus for over 150 years. His aunt and uncle, Sally Garrard Davis and James Kyle Spencer, donated the Spencer House in Oxford, England to CSU. His father was in the construction business and his mother was a homemaker and volunteer. Professor Garrard went to St. Elmo School from Kindergarten through eighth grade. Then he went off to school in Virginia, to Woodberry Forest School, 30 miles from Charlotttesville, for four years. He started college at Georgia Tech but did not like it, and transferred to Columbus College. In July of 1968, his parents were killed in a fire. He remained in Columbus, finished his Associate's degree in June of 1968 and his bachelors in June of 1970. He was in the first four-year class at Columbus College. After that he went in the Navy for three years, came back to Columbus, and started a business with a friend. He wanted to teach, so went to graduate school and got his masters degree in 1979. He started teaching 5th and 6th grade language arts at Brookstone in the fall of 1979. He retired from Brookstone in 1991, and started teaching at CSU that same year.
From the description of Oral history interview with R. Spencer Garrard, 2007 Oct. 24 / conducted by Morgan Carraway. (Columbus State University). WorldCat record id: 311116541
