Bradford Spear passed away in Sheridan on Monday, 13 April. He was 83.
Brad was born in Sheridan on 15 May 1925, the seventh child of Jessamine (née Spear) and William Victor Johnson of the Rosebud X4 Ranch near Kirby, Montana. He was the grandson of Willis Moses Spear, Wyoming and Montana pioneer and cattleman. He changed his name to Spear in order to carry on the family name.
Brad attended primary school at the Kirby Log Schoolhouse, the Waters School on the Cheyenne Reservation and the Corral Creek School on the Crow Reservation, riding his horse to and fro in all kinds of weather. He graduated from Sheridan High School with the class of 1943 while in the US Navy, which he joined in 1942. He served mainly in the Pacific, participating in landings at Guam, Iwojima, Okinawa, Saipan and others. The youngest radioman in the Navy, he was awarded seven medals and citations. He was especially proud of being among the first on 12 April 1945 to intercept, decode and transmit the Japanese Emperor’s message announcing Japan’s surrender.
On 7 September 1950, Brad married Patricia Ann Brooder, daughter of Charlotte (née Vigness) and Jack Brooder of Sheridan. She accompanied him back to Colorado State University at Fort Collins, where he received a B.S. in Economics and Range Management in 1951. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
After graduating, they spent their early married life at the Spear- O Ranch near Kirby, and started their herd of Angus cattle. Later they moved to the Padlock Ranch near Dayton, where Brad held a number of management posts until he retired. They raised four children and travelled the world, visiting six continents. They moved to Sheridan in 1992.
Brad was an active member of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, holding the chairmanships of the Brand and Theft Committee and the Reservation Ranchers Committee. He was also President of the Big Horn County Livestock Association (Montana) and Chairman of Weed and Pest Control in both Sheridan and Big Horn Counties.
In addition to playing the guitar and piano, Brad was a talented actor, participating in numerous Civic Theatre Guild plays. A committed Rotarian, he was a longstanding member of the Dayton-Ranchester and Sheridan Rotary chapters. And many in Sheridan will remember him as the ‘voice’ and instigator of Crime Stoppers.
Brad, Patricia and the children were enthusiastic skiers, and Brad was a founder-director of the Fun Valley Corporation, which ran the Antelope Butte Ski Area for many years. He and Patricia put away their downhill and crosscountry skis only a few years ago.
Brad is survived by Patricia; their children Andrea of Geneva, Switzerland, Mary Pat Obermiller (Rod) of Dayton, Willis (Ann) of Riverton, and Tenley of Billings; and their grandchildren Seth Gleason and Suzie Gleason-Trumbull of Sheridan, and Maor Spear of Berlin, Germany.
Services will be held at Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church on Friday, 17 April, at 1100 am. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations should go to Saint Peter’s Youth Group (tel. 674 7655) or to the Senior’s Minibus Service (tel. 672 2240).
The Sheridan Press - April 16, 2009.