Air Force retired
DOVER - Jack Camp Spear, SMSGT, Air Force retired, died Mar. 10, 2017, of complications from pneumonia.
He was born Mar. 26, 1923, in Woodbury, N.J. Little is known of his parents with whom he moved to Lewistown, Pa. as an infant. He was a member of the Lewistown High School class of 1941, where he was a four letter man in athletics. He was united in marriage to Betty Jane Noerr, Aug. 18, 1940. Sergeant Spear was drafted into the Army in 1943. He fought in the battles of Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland and the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) where he was captured. He was awarded four Battle Stars, a Bronze Star, a Victory Medal and a POW Medal, among others. After returning from Europe to Lewistown he enlisted in the Air Force. He also served in the Vietnam War in 1969 to 1970. He earned his GED while in the military and retired from the Air Force in 1974.
He and Betty Jane forged a 30 year military life traveling to Newfoundland, Guam, Hawaii, Panama, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Delaware, among many other places. After retirement Jack and Betty Jane established homes in Hampton, Va. and Dover. After Betty Jane's death in 2006, Jack lived at The Heritage, now Dover Place, in Delaware. There he enjoyed life and made many friends. He loved reading to the nearby school children who reciprocated their affection. He considered himself a soldier who loved basic training, the military life and served his country honorably.
Jack is survived by his son, Jack G. Spear and his wife, Antonia Ballare, of Montclair, N.J.; his daughter, Cathy Spear, of Dover; four grandchildren, Jennifer Wallace, of Newark, Adam Leiter, of Hockessin, Katy Evans, of Smyrna, and Elizabeth Ballare, of North Brunswick, N.J.; and six great-grandchildren, Julia Rose Wallace, Adam Tuxward, Caroline Davis, Mia Davis, Cooper Evans and Samuel James Leiter.
A gathering of family and friends will be 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., Monday, Mar. 27, 2017, at Trader Funeral Home, 12 Lotus Street, Dover. The family will hold a private burial and, at a later date, a memorial service with family and friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Sgt. Spear's name may be made either to Wounded Warriors Family Support of Omaha, Nebraska, www.wwfs.org or Operation Homefront in San Antonio, Texas, www.operationhomefront.org.
Letters of condolences may be sent to www.traderfh.com