Phyllis Reynolds Spence

from Clancy Strickland Wheeler Funeral Home - Wake Forest, NC

Phyllis Reynolds Spence, 79, of Wake Forest, passed away on Wednesday, September 24th, 2025 at her home surrounded by her family. She was born in Winston-Salem to the late A.C. Reynolds, Sr. and Mary Magdelene Jenkins Reynolds.

Phyllis grew up on her father’s auto-salvage yard just north of Winston-Salem. She loved to sing and was sharing special music in church from a very young age. As she grew older, singing became her passion. She traveled and sang gospel music, both solo and with various groups. She especially loved singing in a group called The Joytones with her good friend Mary Anderson and Mary’s sons, Tony and Randy.

When she wasn’t singing, she worked as a hair stylist in and around Winston-Salem. She met Guy Spence, who had recently moved to Winston-Salem to work at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco after graduating from the University of Florida in 1967. They were married on April 5, 1968, and were completely devoted to one another for 55 years, until his death in September 2023.

Their only child, Brian, was born in 1978. Phyllis devoted the next 14 years to the hardest and most rewarding work of all: being a wife and mother. She not only loved music—she loved children, and children were drawn to her. She spent thirty years leading and directing the children’s choir at her church and touched the lives of many kids in this way. Beyond music and singing, Phyllis loved to cook and bake goodies. Nothing made her happier than to see others enjoying one of her home-cooked meals or a slice of her famous pound cake.

In 1992, the year Brian started high school, she took her passion to the next level and enrolled in college to pursue a degree in music. She graduated with honors in 1996 and spent the next 24 years teaching piano from her home. During this time she wrote two short books and was frequently a speaker at various women’s conferences.

In 2020, Phyllis retired, and she and Guy sold their home of nearly 50 years and moved to Wake Forest, where they shared a home with their son Brian and his wife, Nikki, and their grandsons, Chess and Ben. There she continued to instill a love of music in her grandsons, who were her last students.

Most importantly, she loved Jesus and trusted Him completely to forgive her sins and to be her great treasure and joy. She was a faithful member of Grace Baptist Church in Winston-Salem for 30 years and became a member of Imago Dei Church after moving to Wake Forest.

Mrs. Spence is survived by son, Brian Spence & wife Nikki of Wake Forest; grandchildren, Maddie Cundiff & husband Daniel of Athens, Alabama, Charlie Tibbetts of Athens, Alabama, Chess and Ben Spence both of Wake Forest; brothers, A.C. Reynolds, Jr. & wife Gwen, Jimmy Reynolds & wife June and Timothy Reynolds & wife Pam all of Winston-Salem; special family, Yurami Hepler & husband David and their son Michael all of Winston-Salem; extended family and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Guy Spence, and sister Shirley Wilmoth. 

Friends may visit with the family from 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, September 30th, 2025 at Imago Dei Church, 9200 Strickland Rd, Raleigh, NC, followed by the funeral service at 3:00 p.m. Burial will be held at Alaqua Methodist Church Cemetery in DeFuniak Springs, Florida at 11:00 a.m. Friday, October 3rd, 2025. 

Memorial contributions can be made in Mrs. Spence’s memory to Imago Dei Church, 9200 Strickland Rd, Raleigh, NC 27615. Arrangements by Clancy Strickland Wheeler Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 1051 Durham Road, Wake Forest, NC 27587 (919)556-7400