Obituary of Joe Spears

Funeral services for Joe L. Spears age 92 of Jena will be held 2pm Sunday September 30, 2012 from the sanctuary of Calvary Heights Baptist Church in Jena, with Rev. Elton Cahoon officiating. Interment with Full Military Honors will follow in the Summerville Cemetery, at Summerville. Services are under direction of Riser Funeral Home of Olla. The Spears Family will receive guests, in visitation at the Calvary Heights Church on Saturday September 29, from 5pm to 7pm. Joe Leonard Spears was born on May 20, 1920 in Lasalle Parish, to the union of James Henry Spears and Irene Whitten Spears, and he passed from this life on September 27, 2012 at the Lasalle General Hospital in Jena following an extended illness. He was preceded in death by his parents and his first wife Marie Wood Spears, and three brothers, Wayne Spears, Jimmy Spears, and Cecil Spears. He served in the United States Army in World War II in the Africa Campaign , where he received a Purple Heart. He was a 32nd Degree Mason and the Scottish Rites, and also a member of the Calvary Heights Baptist Church. He retired from Spears Oil & Gas where he served as a Pumper. Survivors include his beloved wife of twenty one years, Myra Whitten Spears of Jena; two sons, Rick Spears and wife Deborah of Shreveport; and Randy W. Spears and wife Linda of Shreveport; one daughter, Pam Evans and husband Buddy of Manifest; one brother, Samuel B. Spears and wife Elvina, of West Monroe; four grandchildren, Chad Spears and wife Kelly ,Ryan Spears and fiancé Morgan, Jason Evans, and Gabe Evans and wife Sonia; and great-grandchildren, Austin Defatta, Tyler Evans, and Drake Evans. Serving as pallbearers will be Chad Spears, Jason Evans, Gabe Evans, Charles Speegle, Kenny Thomas, and Buddy Evans.