From the hearts of Eagles for 66 years! - Fraternal Order of Eagles

6
In Memoriam
Sherm Spears
Grand Worthy President
1992-93
Light the Way!” was the theme of
Sherm Spears when he became
Grand Worthy President of the
Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1992.
Nobody knew more about that than
Sherm, who was an electrician by
trade and had been lighting the way
as an Eagle since he joined Ottawa,
Kansas Aerie 2700 in 1963.
Sherm passed away on April 30, at
age 67. At the time of his death, he
was also a dual member of Aerie
2306 in Miamisburg, Ohio, where he
lived.
He started through the chairs of
his local Aerie within a year of
joining, and eventually occupied
them all except Treasurer. In 1971,
Sherm was elected Worthy President.
He served as Aerie Secretary for 15
years, and in 1981 Sherm became
President of the Kansas State Aerie.
When Russ Clark joined Aerie
154 in South Omaha,
Nebraska in 1957, he didn’t have
visions of someday becoming Grand
Worthy President. He was after a
good time, and he’d found out that if
he joined the Eagles he’d be able to
attend the dances at the Aerie every
weekend for free.
Glad you like it, said his Brothers
He was also chairman of the state
Eagles bowling tournament for 17
years.
Sherm started up the rungs of the
Grand Aerie in 1983 as Grand
Worthy Outside Guard.
At his induction as Grand Worthy
President, Sherm’s son, Kevin, talked
about his Dad’s unstinting love for
the Eagles.
“... He has committed all his free
time to working for all the Eagles’
beliefs and for the Eagle charities
and activities. He has always
supported our wonderful motto,
‘Eagles are People Helping People.’
“Because of Dad’s years of
dedication to the Eagles, all of his
kids, seeing all the good that Eagles
do, proudly and quickly joined
Russ Clark
Grand Worthy President
1984-85
at Russ’s first free dance – and by the
way, you’re our new entertainment
chairman. It was the start of an
illustrious Eagle career for Russ, who
passed away on June 5 at age 91.
In 1959, Russ was appointed Aerie
Conductor, and in 1962 he became
Worthy President. Ten years later he
was State President, followed by a
term as West Central Regional
President before he joined the Grand
Aerie as Worthy Chaplain in 1977.
Then followed four terms as a Grand
Trustee, and stints as Grand Vice
President and President-Elect.
In 1984, Russ became the first
Cornhusker State Eagle elected as
Grand Worthy President of the
Fraternal Order of Eagles.
There wasn’t a job Russ didn’t do
well for the Eagles. He edited the
ourselves as soon as we became
eligible.”
In the 1990s, Sherm served as
international Chairman of the
Golden Eagle Fund.
In 1997, his indelible contributions
to Eagledom were further recognized
when Sherm was inducted into the
Grand Aerie Hall of Fame.
award-winning Aerie 154 Hi-Flyer
Bulletin for 14 years, captained the
four-time international champion
local Ritual Team for 25 years, and
was a 10-year Aerie Secretary.
His theme as Grand Worthy
President was “Be a Winner!” By his
definition, a winner was “any Eagle
who does something to promote the
ideals of Truth, Justice and Equality
that are the cornerstones of our
fraternity; who signs up a new
member for his Aerie; who organizes
a new Aerie; who raises an extra
dollar to help lessen the ills of
mankind.” Russ was a big winner.
Russ’s Eagle travels often took him
far from home, but he always
undertook them with great
eagerness, envisioning the great
friends he’d see and all those free
Eagle dances.
EAGLE