He wanted all to play ball

Former Minnesota Twins player Frank John Quilici is remembered not just for his professional sports career, but also for his commitment to sports for all children. Quilici died in May after a long illness. He was 80 and lived in Burnsville.

Quilici played second base for the Twins in the 1960s. He was part of the Twins’ American League championship team that lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a seven-game World Series. He later served as coach, manager, and broadcaster for the organization

Quilici, who later became an insurance company executive, was honored with the Kirby Puckett Award for Alumni Community Service in 2013. He also was a former member of the board of directors of the Twins Community Fund and president of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation. One of the causes he championed was that of accessible Miracle League ball fields so that children with disabilities can enjoy baseball.

The Minnesota Twins issued a statement: “Frank not only exemplified professionalism as a player, coach, manager, and broadcaster for the Twins, he also served as a community leader in the Twin Cities working to make sure youth had recreational opportunities and contributed to many other charitable causes.”

He is survived by his wife Lila, four children and their families, and other family members and friends. Services have been held.

 

Spencer was children’s advocate

An advocate for children with disabilities is remembered for her decades of activism. Dorothy “Dottie” Cederberg Spencer, 90, died in St. Paul. In the early 1970s then-Gov. Wendell Anderson appointed Spencer to what is now the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities.

Spencer was born in 1927 in North Dakota. Her father was a Swedish Lutheran minister. The family lived in several places including Chisholm, Grantsburg, Wisc, and Churchbridge, Saskatchewan, where she was the valedictorian of the (four-person) class of 1945. She went on to graduate from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. She was an inner-city school teacher and then became a stewardess. She married Merrill Harvey Spencer. They moved to Madelia.

Spencer was a tireless advocate for the disabled, serving on the state council and the Minnesota Epilepsy League, now the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota. She returned to teaching and was deeply involved with the Madelia Public Library.

She moved to St. Paul in 2014, after the death of her husband. Spencer is survived by six children and their families, as well as siblings and many friends. Services have been held.