Spice founded green business Los Patios

John Overstreet Spice, the founder and creative force behind Los Patios, the 20-acre green business complex along the banks of Salado Creek in northeast San Antonio, died Oct. 21 of Parkinson's disease.

The San Antonio native, who owned and operated the complex of shops, gardens, restaurants and event venues until 1998, was 80. He was a trained geologist, naturalist and a longtime Anglophile with British business interests.

In great measure, he got the life he wanted, said John McClung, the present co-owner and managing director of Los Patios. He was green before green was fashionable.

Spice graduated from Jefferson High School in 1948, attended Dartmouth College and earned a bachelor's degree in geology from Southern Methodist University. He got a master's degree in geology from the University of Texas at Austin and worked for Phillips Petroleum in Midland.

But that life didn't stick. The oilman turned to landscape architecture, a career that grew out of an innate interest in nature. He was among the state's first class of licensed landscape architects.

It was also in Midland where Spice created the first Los Patios, a complex that put businesses within a green space.

When he returned to San Antonio, he grew that concept, restoring land that was once part of a gravel quarry, McClung said.

Spice embarked on a huge forestation project there, planting 200 trees. He also ensured that a majority of the trees already on the ground would remain intact.

But he was a businessman first. McClung called him a pragmatist. He strove to engage the environment in a way that benefited his business goal but respected the environment first.

The natural environment was at the top of his business plan, said McClung, who regarded Spice as a father. After selling Los Patios in 1998, Spice remained as a consultant and founder emeritus.

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Spice founded green business Los Patios