McCabe Funeral Home

Mr. Spivey was my health teacher. He was very GQ with a charismatic smile and cool walk w/briefcase. Mr. Spivey would later become my salesperson @ Mel Farr in Oak Park. He was an educator that had a great impact on my life. CT c/o '86

Working for you in the gym office and cheering for the CT Varsity Boys BBall Team!

How cool, collective, and professional Mr. Spivey was at Cass Tech. He showed true compassion as a dedicated teacher and coach. Mr. Spivey also displayed a keen and impeccable way on how to dress and look presentable when your career-oriented. May God bless Dave and his family during this time and always. Sincerely, Yolanda Johnson Cass Tech 1985

One of the most supporting and inspiring personages at Cass Tech... You will be missed.

Jim was a very snazzy dresser, but one Saturday he came in to deliver a car in his biker shorts?? He was headed to belle isle to go bike riding ???? That was so funny ?? all and all Jim was a very professional and classy guy. Rest in Paradise ???? Thoughts and prayers to the family ????

Coach recruited me from Miller Jr. High for basketball. Cass has just won the City Championship. We rebuilt the team my first year then won the championship again...

Looking forward to going to Mr. Spivey's health class everyday, climbing all the way up to the 8th floor!!! He was one of the coolest teachers at CT, always keeping it real. As someone else mentioned, he was very GQ, quite debonair I might add. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Willie Ogletree, a Cass Tech classmate, called me the other day to inform me that my high school basketball coach, Jim Spivey, had made his transition on May 3rd. I was saddened by the news and asked Tree, as he is affectionately known, to let me know when the arrangements were made. Tree informed me that Coach Spivey's wife was looking for photos that commemorated his coaching days and fortunately I had a few of his first City Championship. The photos below included. I met Tree in 1967 when I was senior on the Cass tech basketball team and he was team statistician. I met Coach Spivey in 1965, when I was a freshman player on the Cass Tech reserve basketball team. I remember the day like it was yesterday. Coach Spivey walked into the gym the first day of practice liked he owned it. He was tall, handsome, wore rose tinted glasses and Gypsy Split Stetson shoes. I had an identical pair of Stetsons upstairs in my gym locker. I did not know if he could coach, but he passed my "Cool Test" with an A+ and gold star. It was not long before I realized that he was one of the best coaches in the state of Michigan. We had a successful freshman team under Coach Spivey, and I learned a lot from him. He understood the game and he got the best from his players. My elementary school friend, Greg Tripp and I moved up to the varsity team in January, and Coach Spivey finished the season with the freshman team. He did not return the next year, which I thought was odd. During my junior year, I played on a senior led team that occasionally showed flashes of brilliance, but mostly under achieved. The team was coached by Head Coach Charles Jenks and his Assistant Coach Randy Ziegler. Coach Zig, as he was known, recruited Coach Spivey to be our freshman coach. Most of the seniors graduated in January at the half season, which gave my guys (Preston Pace, Lee Davenport, Greg Tripp, Greg McNair, Dwight Govan) and me the chance to show what we could do. We could go! We played well under Zig and we all looked forward to playing for him our senior year. Unfortunatley, Zig left Cass Tech to become the Head Coach at Northeastern High School. I saw Zig at the Michigan State Fair, where we both worked during the two weeks of the fair, where he gave me the bad news. He told that we would be alright since we had a good team, which was little consolation to me. I was crushed by the news. I had prepared for my senior year since I was in elementary school. It was the summer of 1967 and half of Detroit had burned down, and all that I could focus on was not having Zig back to coach our team. My full-time summer job during the summers was working at the Kronk Recreation Center. Jim Spivey also worked at Kronk on weekends during the summer. My first stop when I arrived at work was Coach Spivey's office. I told him about my conversation with Zig and asked him if he would consider coming back to coach us. Without hesitation, he said yes...just like I thought he would. He asked me to put a good word for him with Coach Jenks and I agreed to do so. The first day of school I went straight to the office of Coach Chas Jenks, and informed him of my conversation with Coach Spivey, and I asked if he would be interested in Spivey coming back to work with him. Without hesitation, he said yes...just like I thought he would. The rest is history. That season we won 8 regular season games and lost 4. We won the District Championship in the state tournament, and lost to Catholic Central in the Regionals Finals. We were the last Detroit Public School team in the Tournament. My team mates and I graduated from Cass Tech that June, better young men for having the opportunity to have played for Coach Spivey. Coach went on to win City Championships, and finish second in the state tournament in a game that Cass Tech loss due a bad call that the referee apologized for after the game. Coach Spivey has made his transition and leaves behind his loved ones and a host of men who he helped mold into some of Detroit's finest. My old elementary school buddy Greg Tripp made his transition last year, I am sitting at my computer reflecting on how much God has blessed me, and Willie Ogletree is still the team statistician at Cass Technical High School. God bless and keep the Spivey family now and forever. Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, people sitting and indoor Image may contain: 3 people, people standing and sunglasses