John Spencer Melder, 67, passed away on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at Natchitoches Regional Medical Center in Natchitoches, Louisiana. He died surrounded by his loving husband, his adoring parents, and all three of his siblings.

Spencer was born at the very same hospital on September 19, 1959, and though his birth and death happened within steps of each other, the life he lived in between bounded beyond all maps.

The youngest of the four Melder children, Spencer was the family’s pride and joy from the day he arrived, and he remains so today. He grew up in Natchitoches and loved the small, historic southern town his whole life. Spencer contributed generously to its local preservation, arts, and culture. To the friends and strangers he charmed around the world, his hometown and its goings-on were, in his words, “a hoot.” So was he.

Spencer was raised in the First Baptist Church of Natchitoches. He graduated from Natchitoches Central High School in 1977 and went on to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he joined Sigma Chi Fraternity and earned a B.S. in Accounting in 1981. After a short but spirited stint in the family cotton ginning business in Crockett, Texas, he went back to LSU and earned his Juris Doctor from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1988. Then it was on to New York City, where he attended New York University School of Law on a Gerald L. Wallace Fund Scholarship and earned an LL.M. in Taxation. He was a member of the Louisiana and New York State Bars.

Spencer had a successful career, which spanned four decades as an international tax attorney in the global finance industry. Based in New York, the job carried him across the world, and he lived and worked in Europe, Asia, and South America. He retired in 2025 from JPMorgan Chase, where he was responsible for international transfer pricing.

Spencer met the love of his life, Mr. Jonathan Tait Murphy, in the summer of 2000 during a holiday in southern France. The two, both New Yorkers, had never met before they joined mutual friends in a house share in Provence. The rest, as they say, is history.

They quickly built a life together on the eastside of Manhattan before moving to Woodbury, Connecticut, in 2007. Jonathan and Spencer were wed in a surprise ceremony in their garden in Woodbury in August 2015 in the presence of only two witnesses—Spencer’s parents, L.J. and Gay Melder.

Spencer brought joy to everyone he met. He loved to sing. He loved to cook. He loved to host parties where he would usually cook and sing. He loved to occasionally keep bees and chickens. He loved Jonathan’s flower garden, with its stunning hydrangeas and award-winning peonies. He loved his family. He loved his parents. He loved his sister Gayla and her husband Ed. He loved his brothers Sonny and Tommy and their wives Connie and Brenda. He loved Jonathan’s family. He loved a dozen nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews. He loved his dogs, Welsh Terriers all: Jimmy (the original), Jimmy (the second), Emmie, and Maurice. He loved his work and the people he worked with. He loved his friends, who were countless, and each one singularly precious to him. He loved Jonathan most of all.

And they all loved him back.

Yet no love is greater than the one that holds him now, as he rests in the eternal love of his Heavenly Father. Spencer was a Christian who loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Natchitoches, where he was baptized as a child and where his funeral services will be held.

Spencer is survived by his husband, Jonathan Tait Murphy, of Woodbury, Connecticut; his parents, Esther Gay Melder and L.J. Melder Sr., of Natchitoches; his sister, Gayla Carey (Ed), of Baton Rouge; and his brothers, L.J. “Sonny” Melder Jr. (Connie) and Thomas Melder (Brenda), both of Natchitoches.

Serving as pallbearers will be his nephews and nephews-in-law, Andy Blumberg, David Broussard, Chad Melder, Jay Melder, Jon Melder, and Dan Paul Moncla. Honorary pallbearers will be Rory Centanni, James Holloway, Jerry Paul, Michael Prudhomme, Roberto Rizzo, and Stephen Rojas.

A service celebrating Spencer’s life will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at The First Baptist Church, 508 Second Street, Natchitoches, Louisiana 71457. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m.

For Spencer, there will be many beautiful flowers.