The World War II Diary Of Captain George B. Spero

Born Yeoryios Vasilios Spiridakos in Sparta, Greece on August 17th, 1915, George Spero arrived at the Port of New York in New York City on May 30th, 1928 alongside his family. The family settled in Allegan, Michigan where George first met Maxine, his wife of 60 years, while in the eighth grade. After high school George attended Michigan State University where he received a Masters degree in Chemistry in 1940. Shortly thereafter he married Maxine and spent four years of active duty fighting in WWII. After returning from the war George Spero took a job as chemist for a Kalamazoo, Michigan based pharmaceutical manufacturer called Upjohn Company. For his 32 years of service George holds a total of 29 patents, helping to usher in some truly monumental breakthroughs in medicine. Among his greatest achievements are the inventions of Cortisone, the first arthritic drug, the first pre-menstrual cramp drug and the first anabolic steroid to help cancer patients survive chemotherapy. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s George Spero took on construction and built the home that he and Maxine would raise their children in and live in until the time of his death in 2001. Avid about travel and photography, George and Maxine traveled throughout Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Central America and the United States, documenting it through photographs and slide film. An ardent academic, besides his Master’s in chemistry, George Spero also went on to receive his Patent Law degree, a Master’s in archeology and to take art classes in his 80’s to learn to paint Greek landscapes. Additionally, he was a self-taught genealogist and Biblical scholar.