Benjamin Haydon Spalding

Benjamin Haydon Spalding, Jr., 89, entered into his eternal reward on October 31, 2024. He was born August 9, 1935, in Louisville, Kentucky.

He attended Bethlehem Academy and graduated from St. Joseph Preparatory School in 1953. He married Ann Reynolds Everett on January 5, 1957. Together, they raised their family of five children in Bardstown, where Haydon was the fourth-generation owner of Spalding and Sons, a retail clothing store in continuous operation from 1856 to 2013. He was deeply proud of “the store” and its tradition of service to generations of Nelson County families, as well to the many tourists who visited Bardstown, the hometown he so dearly loved.

A championship-level amateur golfer, Haydon was a member of the golf team at Xavier University and the University of Kentucky. He would go on to compete in tournaments throughout the southeast, winning the My Old Kentucky Home club championship eleven times, and earning the distinction of being a three-time champion of the Bourbon Open. One of his greatest pleasures in life was golfing with his son, Ben, as well as with the cherished friends who were part of the same golf foursome for over fifty years. If golf is a gentleman’s game, then Haydon was one of its greatest local ambassadors.

Haydon was a man who loved his Church, his family, his friends, and his community, and he was blessed to have that love returned to him over the many years of his distinguished life.

He was preceded in death by his dear parents, Benjamin Haydon and Martha Ball Spalding; his beloved wife Ann Everett Spalding; his loving daughter Madge Spalding Polin; and his cherished brothers-in-law, Paul Cowden and Addison Everett. He is survived by his loving children, Sallie Spalding Walsh (Chris), Kelley Spalding, Ben Spalding, and Mary Spalding Hepditch (Scott); his dear sister Suzi Cowden; his loving nieces Kelley Cowden Hodgson (Jesse), and Lucy Cowden Gess (Ben); and his grandchildren Jacob and Elise Spalding, and Haydon and Addison Hepditch, all of whom loved and adored their “Hay-Hay”.

Public visitation will be held Monday, November 4, from 3:00-8:00pm; and Tuesday, November 5, from 9:00-10:15am at Barlow Funeral Home. The Most Reverend Charles C. Thompson, Archbishop of Indianapolis, will celebrate a Mass of Christian Burial at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral on Tuesday, November 5, at 11:00am. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery.

The Spalding family would like to thank Cooper Trail Senior Living, Barton House Memory Care, and Hosparus of Louisville for their devoted and compassionate care of Haydon during the last two years of his life.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in the name of Haydon Spalding to Alzheimer’s Association and Bethlehem High School.

Barlow Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

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