EVANS ALBERT SPEAR COUSINS ISLAND YARMOUTH – Evans Albert Spear, 23, passed away peacefully in the afternoon of May 24, 2004, surrounded by his family at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass., after a long courageous battle with cancer. Evans was born March 28, 1981, in Portland, to Willis and Christine (Werner) Spear. He grew up on the north side of Cousins Island within the sight and sound of the sea, where he lobstered and fished all his life. Evans graduated from Yarmouth High School with the Class of 2000, where he played hockey and lacrosse. Evans was an All-American lacrosse player and was the Captain of the Yarmouth Lacrosse team in both his junior and senior years. He was also an All-State hockey player. Evans was an incredible athlete, not just for his skills and ability, but for his energy towards truly enjoying the sport and the companionship of his friends. There were a few times when the boys were down and Evans would always step up at a time when he was needed most. He changed everyone who knew him. You could see how big his heart was when he smiled his sparkling mischievous smile. His ability to change people’s moods who were around him was like a firecracker. Evans attended Maine Maritime Academy with his older brother, Obie, where he was president of his freshman class and a squad leader in the ROTC program. While being treated for his cancer, Evans never laid down. He lobstered every summer, learned how to fly a plane, played lacrosse with Bowdoin College and started a self-help group for young people with cancer. In an interview about his help group he was quoted as saying: “Having cancer and being a 20 year old is a very difficult thing, because you’re trying to become independent from your family. If your under 18, you have the Maine Children’s Cancer Program, and if you’re over 30, you might have a family of your own and have already fulfilled some of your goals. The ages of 18 through 30 are a very dynamic time in a young adult’s life. This is a period when we should be striving to achieve our goals, but our lives have been put on pause. We have all the same problems as other young adults, but they can be amplified by having or dealing with cancer.” In his last days he said that he was not scared for himself, but for his friends and family. To all those who knew Evans this was what he was all about, thinking of others before thinking about himself. Evans touched many people in his short life and had many good friends. His doctors and nurses in Portland and Boston gave him the best care and friendship. For the duration of his illness Evans lived with his grandmother “Grammy K.” He coped with his illness and her age with cakes, cookies and humor. Evans is survived by his parents of Yarmouth; three brothers; Willis “Obie”, Marshall and Jedediah Spear, all of Yarmouth; maternal grandmother, Kay Werner “Grammy K”; and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Spear “Mimi,” both of the Portland area. Visiting hours will be held from 6-9 p.m. Thursday, May 27, at Lindquist Funeral Home, 1 Mayberry Lane, Yarmouth, ME 04038. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at the First Parish Congregational Church, 116 Main St., Yarmouth, with the Rev. Carra Bradt officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 495 Old Connecticut Path, Suite 220, Framingham, MA 01701, The Changing Tides Fund, Long Island, ME 04050 or to the charity of one’s choice in Evans’ memory
EVANS ALBERT SPEAR
