Edward Dewey Spears, Jr.

Edward Dewey Spears, Jr. was raised on eagles wings to heaven on Friday, May 3, 2024, after a brief illness. 

His family of four generations, who attentively and affectionately accompanied him to the threshold of an eternal beginning, includes his beloved great grandchildren, grandsons, and son and daughter with their spouses. 

Born in Cotton Valley, Louisiana, on October 16, 1928 to Ophie Lee and Edward Dewey Spears, Sr., he spent his early life in Throckmorton County, Texas and graduated from Woodson High School in Woodson, Texas, where he grew to manhood alongside his best friend and future brother-in-law, Gary Willingham. Both "Bubba," his childhood nickname given him by his beloved sister Marjorie Ann, and Gary were to eventually court and marry sisters Lois Dean and Betsy Moreland from Young County. Country kids all, they grew strong and committed during the Great American Depression and the tumult of WWII, producing steadfast, resilient personal characters typical of the Greatest Generation.

After two years at Tarleton State, Bubba married Lois Dean in 1950, moved to Breckenridge, Texas, and went to work in the oil field of North Texas for Dunigan Tool & Supply, which he followed, moving his family to Abilene in 1956. 

Quiet and earnest by nature, his personal and occupational life was marked by steadfast commitment supporting those in his tight circle of family and cohorts at work. His personality craved no attention or public applause. He invested himself in faithful marriage and sober support of family and peers at Dunigan. For him and those he loved, a quiet simple life was amply rewarding and sufficient.

Mirroring his personality, his faith grew quietly but deep. Baptized in the Southern Baptist tradition at age sixteen, he chose to enter the Catholic Church at age ninety five, just six weeks before his journey to eternal life. He left this mortal life full of grace, confidence, and hope in the love of Jesus. He longed to be reunited with those who preceded him in death, including: Lois Dean, Marjorie Ann, Betsy and Gary, his adventurous brother-in-law Bud Moreland, in-laws Roy and Clara Moreland, parents Ophie Lee and Dewey, and his son Edward, "Eddie," Dewey Spears III and niece Debbie Moreland Clark. 

He is survived by his son Ted and his wife Rita (with whom he lived the last fifteen years of his life), and his only daughter Betty Ann and her husband Mike Blake; nieces Mary Lee Shelton and Janice Hirsch, and nephews Kerry and Kevin Willingham, and Johnnie Moreland; grandsons Ladd Spears, Luke and his wife Kayla Spears, Boston and his wife Lauren Blake; and great grandchildren Teddy, Michael, Henry, and Lois Spears (the second Lois in his life), and Cooper Blake. 

There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct. There are souls whose warmth continues to light the world even though they are no longer among the living. Their light remains soft when the night is dark, their subtle glow traces the way to heaven beckoning, "Trust in Jesus. Follow this way. May the circle go unbroken." (adapted from The Life and Diary of Hannah Szenes)