Dexter Spiller

Dexter Talpey Spiller, 88, of York, Maine passed away on May 11, 2023, surrounded by loving family and friends. Dexter is a descendant of nine of the original settlers that signed York’s Submission to Massachusetts in 1652. He is also a descendant of the Richard Talpey family of the Isles of Shoals. Dexter went through the Cape Neddick and York Beach grammar school system and was a graduate of York High School in 1953, and Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration in 1957. 

Dexter’s adventures in life began when he married Virginia “Ginny” Mae Smolen on June 13, 1959 in Portland, Maine and traveled to Fort Richardson, Alaska by car, camping all the way where he became a First Lieutenant and served as a Quartermaster Supply Officer.

When they returned to New England, Dexter continued in his parent’s footsteps. Nina and Alpheus Spiller had created a Cape Neddick business – Spillers Inn, that moved and expanded/evolved from “Take Out” to a “Full-Service restaurant”. Ginny and Dexter purchased the business and ran Spiller’s Restaurant for over 28 years on the shores of Short Sands Beach employing over 100 high school and college students seasonally. To Dexter and Virginia, their staff was family.

Family time was spent out of doors snowmobiling, skiing, sledding, and hiking.  Dexter and Ginny’s love of the outdoors provided many delightful hours of camping and canoeing throughout Maine after selling their restaurant. 

Dexter was very active in the York community. Over the years, he was Trustee and President of the York Water District; Scout Master for York Boy Scout Troop 301; Secretary of St. Aspinquid Masonic Lodge; Ellis Park Trustee and President; and Old York Historical Society volunteer. He was a member of the St. Aspinquid Masonic Lodge; St. John’s Masonic Lodge; Kora Shrine Temple; Maine Small Woodlot Owners; Museums of Old York; Piscataqua Pioneers Society; and Maine Historical Society.

Dexter and Ginny were active communicants of St. John's Episcopal Church in Portsmouth and St. Peters Episcopal Church at Bald Head Cliff, York.

Dexter is predeceased by his wife, Virginia Mae Smolen Spiller; infant daughter, Karen Spiller, and parents Nina Talpey Spiller and Alpheus Spiller. Surviving family members are his sister, Mary Olive Spiller Hummel; sons, Bert Appleton Spiller and wife Maria Marchese-Spiller with son, Nicholas; Seth Andrew Spiller and wife Heidi Spiller with daughters, Shea and Elizabeth; and daughter, Joy Rose Norkin (late husband, Andrew Norkin) with children: Irina, Mae, Sophia, Jonah and Noelle. Additionally, Dexter’s dear cousin, Faith Hutchins Webster, and many others have all been blessed by Dexter’s sense of community and love for others. He was the neighbor, friend, father, grampa who knew how to fix everything and was able to lift or secure anything with the right knot and rope or twine.

ARRANGEMENTS: A Celebration of Life for family and friends will be held June 5th at 11:00am at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 100 Chapel Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801. In lieu of flowers, donate to the Old York Historical Society, P.O. Box 312, York, ME 03909 in Dexter’s name (https://oldyork.org/give/). Assisting the family with arrangements is the Cremation Society of NH, Hampton. To view Dexter's Online Tribute, send condolences to the family, or for more information, visit www.csnh.com.