January 10, 2019 600 AM
John August Spanagel, a 40-year resident of the Big Bend area, died of lung cancer Friday, December 21, 2018 at home surrounded by his family.
He was born in El Paso on April 17, 1942 to Rosemary and Oliver Spanagel.
He is survived by his wife Cindy, daughter Rainbow Spanagel and grandson Owen Bagwell of Midland, and daughter Daisy and her husband Eric Foreman of Reno, Nevada.
Always drawn to the land, John found his way to the tri-county area through his chosen profession of land surveying in 1976. He worked for Bassham Land Surveying in both Fort Davis and Marfa, and in 1987 moved to Alpine with his family. There he became a Registered Professional Land Surveyor and owned and ran Spanagel Land Surveying with his wife until March of 2018 when he took a surveying position with Kleinman Consultants.
John loved this land and the people in it. He was always grateful for what he had been given here and had the beautiful ability to pass onto others what he had received.
