RANDOLPH – Harold “Bob” L. Spear, beloved father, grandfather and great-grandfather, age 95, died on Sept. 1, 2020.Bob was born in Randolph on April 2, 1925 and was the son of the late George E. and Olive Lambert Spear. He graduated from Gardiner High School in 1942 and Wentworth Institute in 1944. On Oct. 15, 1942, he married Laura Maxine Leman Bennett at St. Joseph’s Church in Gardiner.He was a veteran of World War II and served in the U.S. Navy from 1943-1946. In 1945 he was injured during combat with the Japanese in the Pacific and was awarded several medals for his service. After the war, he served in the Maine National Guard.In the 1950’s, Bob worked as a hospital aid at the veteran’s administration at Togus, Maine. He was also employed as a mail carrier for the Gardiner Post Office, during which time he was president of the local union of the National Association of Letter Carriers. In 1990, he served on the membership committee of the Augusta Area Chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons.Bob loved sports and games, but especially enjoyed playing cribbage, poker and horseshoes, swimming and deer hunting. He was a talented athlete who excelled at baseball. He played shortstop for a naval team during World War II. His talent caught the eye of a scout for the Red Sox, but a knee injury derailed his dream of a professional baseball career. However, he did get the opportunity to meet and play with some well-known personalities in sports including Dominic DiMaggio of the Boston Red Sox. Over the years, when Bob reminisced, he enjoyed telling his favorite anecdote about his encounter with Ted Williams while playing ball in the service. In the fifties, he was a member of the Randolph VFW team that won regional honors and competed in the National American Baseball Congress Tourney in Battle Creek, Mich. He was also captain of the Togus VA team that won the northeast regional championship and played an exhibition game against the Red Sox. Bob was predeceased by Maxine, his wife of 74 years who died in 2016; his parents, George and Olive Spear, his stepmother, Phyllis Hathaway Spear, mother-in-law and father-in-law, Bertha M. Bennett and Melvin A. Bennett; brothers, Walter V. Spear, George W. Spear and Michael Spear, sister, Kathleen M. Trott; daughter, Karen Trider, son-in-law, Larry Lemay; and granddaughter, Deven Trider.He will be sadly missed by his surviving children, Suzanne Brissette and husband Robert, Linda Lemay, Harry Spear and wife Debbie Clarke, son-in-law Christopher Trider; his grandchildren Michelle Patten and husband Craig, Suzanne Andrews and husband Chad, Shawn Cormier and wife Hazel, Nathan Shaw, Nicholas Trider and wife Melissa and Dustin Trider and wife Laura; his great-grandchildren Shae and Callie Patten, Emily and Ellasyn Trider, Giada and Elisa Cormier and Trace, Kali and Hunter Andrews; and several nieces and nephews.At his request, there will not be any service. It was his wish to be cremated and his ashes interred with his wife, Maxine, at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Gardiner.Arrangements are in the care of Staples Funeral Home and Cremation Care, 53 Brunswick Ave., Gardiner, Maine. Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of the Staples Funeral Home website: http://www.familyfirstfuneralhomes.com.
Those who so desire may make a memorial donation by mail to:
Hope Dementia Support 9901 NE 7th Ave. Suite 212 Vancouver, WA 98685 or via their websitehopedementiasupport.org. Please indicate that the donation is in memory of Harold Spear for the Therapy Dolls Program